Girl Meets Complicated
by dorene.ahmad
Summary: Maya breaks up with Lucas to explore her feelings for Riley, but what will the consequences be for their friendship if she acts on those feelings? This is a Rilaya story narrated by alternating between Maya's point of view and Riley's point of view.
1. Chapter 1

Rilaya Girl Meets Complicated Chapter 1 Riley's POV

Maya was sitting with me in our sacred place: the bay window. She said she had something to tell me. Usually she wouldn't have to. We can read each other's minds. But I couldn't read her this time. There were too many different emotions swirling around her, like a storm, clouding my intuition. I'm worried about her.  
"Maya?" I said. She was looking down, still avoiding me with her eyes.  
She finally looked up at me. There they were. Those sparkling blue eyes that I've looked into so many times before. But this time was different. I've never seen her look at me this way. And I've never known Maya to be at a loss for words. But her eyes were writing a novel. "Maya," I said again. I reached over and placed my hand in hers, squeezing it for encouragement. "What is it, Peaches?"

Maya's POV

I don't know how to do this. I'm afraid to even look at her but I can feel her loving brown eyes watching me, waiting to meet mine. How can I tell Riley this? It could risk everything. It could change everything. But I guess that's what I want. It's only a matter of time before she figures me out. She always does. But I want this to happen on my terms. My thoughts were racing.  
I looked up and was captivated by her gaze. All of my racing thoughts came to a screeching halt. How does she do that? She touches my hand and it's overwhelming. I never feel safer than when I'm with Riley. She called me Peaches. I can feel a smile starting to spread across my lips. How could they not smile at her? I can feel a blush coming on. Damn, it cheeks! Stop giving me away. "Riley," I finally start, "Lucas and I-"

Riley's POV Oh no. Is this really going to be about Lucas? I'm not sure I can bare to listen to her gush about Lucas.  
"Maya" I interrupted, "I already gave you both my blessing."

Maya's POV

Riley looked away when she said that. I can tell she doesn't like the idea of Lucas and I. So, she should be happy when I tell her this right?  
"No, Riley." I squeezed her hand this time. Her eyes returned to me. "Lucas and I aren't going to happen."  
Her eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "Why not?" she questioned, with a concerned tone.  
Ok, here goes the hard part.

Riley's POV Maya started to lean in closer. She held my face with her other hand, and then her lips were kissing mine. My entire perception of time was gone in that moment. It felt like it all happened so fast, but also like it lasted a lifetime. Everything seemed to move in slow motion, until it was suddenly over and I couldn't overcome my disoriented state in time. Snap out of it, Riley. Breathe. She pulled back and searched my face for answers. But words required air. Did that just happen? Did Maya's kiss take my breath away? "Oh" I managed to get out. One syllable was all the air I could move. The room started spinning and everything was fuzzy. I guess that happens when you can't breathe.

Maya's POV

"Riley?" Riley started to fall off the bay window ledge. I caught her before she hit the floor. I held her close and tried to wake her up, but she was out. Great. I killed her. I finally had the guts to kiss her, and I killed her. "You picked a hell of a time to die on me, Matthews." I picked her up, as best as I could. Her long limbs made it anything but graceful, but I managed to lift her onto her bed.  
I sat with her for a moment, stroking her hair. "Well, at least you can't reject me if you're unconscious." And suddenly the fear took over again. What if she does reject me? I can't take this back. What have I done?

I planted a gentle kiss on her forehead. "I'm so sorry, Princess. I don't think I can be here when you wake up." I took one last look at my sweet Riley before hopping out of the bay window.

Riley's POV

My alarm went off. It's 6:15 already? Why am I still in my clothes? Then it all came back to me, and I gasped. Maya kissed me. She kissed me and it left me breathless. It stole my senses. It was amazing and terrifying all at once. What does this mean? Does she have feelings for me? Do I have feelings for her? Slow down, Riley. It was just a kiss. Be cool. Oh who am I kidding? I passed out. Maya's kiss made me swoon, literally. I have to talk to her. I hope I can find the air this time. I got ready for school and went down to eat breakfast.  
It's 7:00. Where are you, Maya? It's 7:01.  
Something is wrong. It's 7:02.  
Something is very, very wrong. It's 7:03 She's always here every morning at 7:00.

Maya's POV

It's 7:00. Right on time. I sat down as the Amtrak train pulled out of penn station. I looked out the window as we surfaced above ground. Goodbye, New York. Goodbye, Riley.  



	2. Chapter 2

Girl Meets Complicated Chapter 2

Riley's POV

I stared at the empty desk next to me. It's almost time for class and Maya isn't here yet. Even more suspicious, is the empty desk behind it. Lucas isn't here yet either.

Mr. Perfect is skipping class? What is this? I called Maya. It went straight to voicemail.

"Riley, where's Maya?" My dad asked.

"I guess she's not feeling well." I lied.

"And Lucas?"

Farkle chimed in. "He's probably taking care of Maya."

I spun around and glared at Farkle. "What?! Why would you say that?"

Farkle was clearly confused by my reaction. "Riley, they're together now. It's the logical conclusion to draw."

"No Farkle, that is not what's going on. They are not together," I said making air quotes around the word "together". I continued "and they are not skipping class together either. I take care of Maya, not Lucas."

"Well, there's only one way to find out. Let's go to each of their houses after school." Farkle suggested.

My dad approved of Farkle's idea. "Great you can bring them the assignment they're missing out on."

"What assignment?" I asked.

"The one I'm about to write on the board!" he exclaimed.

The whole class groaned. Only Farkle responded with his signature "Yay!"

Maya's POV

I texted him. I didn't know who else to turn to. But I just needed someone. Riley has always been my someone. This time I needed someone else.

"Can you meet me at the train station?" I asked.

"Sure, Maya. I'll be there." He replied.

Riley's POV

Farkle and I stood at Lucas' door. We already tried Maya's house, but no one was home. We peeked into the window at Topanga's and didn't see her there either. We didn't go inside because we didn't want to alarm Maya's mother. Just because Maya is MIA doesn't mean she's in trouble, does it? I hope not. I need to find her.

Farkle rang the doorbell. And a healthy, normal looking Lucas opened it.

"You don't look very sick" I said.

Lucas forced a cough. "I uh, I'm feeling better now than I was earlier."

"Are you contagious?" Farkle asked

"Nope, come on in." Lucas stepped aside and held open the door.

I walked through the living room, the dining room, the kitchen and the bathroom, scanning the place for traces of Maya.

"Riley, are you looking for something?" Lucas asked.

"We know she's here." Farkle accused.

"Who?" Lucas asked, innocently.

"Lucas, tell me the truth." I started. "Have you seen Maya today?"

Lucas looked astonished. "No I haven't seen Maya today. Farkle, why would you think she's here?"

"Because you're a couple. And she wasn't at school. And you weren't at school. And she's not at her house.-"

"Slow down, Farkle." Lucas interrupted. He looked at me. "You know don't you?" I nodded. Farkle looked at me and then back at Lucas.

"So what am I missing then?" Farkle asked Lucas.

"Yesterday," Lucas paused. "Maya told me that we can't be a couple." He sat down on the couch. Farkle sat down next to him. I sat on the armrest of the recliner.

"I'm sorry, Lucas." Farkle said.

"The truth is, I wasn't really sick today. I just didn't want to go to school, because I didn't know if I could face her," he looked at me, "or you."

"Lucas, this doesn't have to be awkward. You don't have to avoid me." I assured him.

Farkle looked puzzled. "I don't understand. Riley put her own feelings aside so you and Maya could be together. So why did Maya say you can't be together?"

Lucas looked at me. Oh god. Does he know? Did Maya confess her feelings for me to him? I guess I was wrong. This is definitely awkward.

"Maya said that when she's with me all she can think about is Riley." Lucas said, his eyes still locked on me. His words were covered in a sincere tone of heartbreak.

"Lucas, I'm so sorry." I said.

"So if she wasn't with you today, where could she be?" Farkle questioned Lucas.

"She didn't show up at school at all?" Lucas asked, concerned.

"No, and she won't answer my calls. I haven't seen or heard from her once today." I said. I couldn't keep my worry from seeping into in my voice.

Farkle took out his phone and called Maya. He put it on speaker. It rang 4 times and then voicemail. He then checked all of his social media accounts.

"It looks like she hasn't had any social media activity since yesterday." Farkle concluded.

"This is all my fault" Lucas and I happened to say the same thing at the same time. Then we both looked at each other in confusion. "Your fault?" We both asked each other at the same time.

"One at a time, there's plenty of blame to go around." Farkle remarked.

"How could it be your fault, Riley?" Lucas asked. "I'm the one she can't bare to be with. She's probably avoiding me just like I was avoiding her today." Lucas suggested.

"And yet she isn't answering Riley's calls." Farkle looked at me in speculation.

"Well, she didn't answer for you either, Farkle." I rebutted.

"She never answers when I call." Farkle responds in disappointment.

"Yeah because you're always hitting on her." I say in her defense.

"I can't help it. I love you both. But that wasn't my point. She never answers when I call, but she's usually attached to you at the hip." Farkle continued his speculation.

"Yeah, Riley. Did you two have a fight?" Lucas asked.

I looked down and sighed. I can't tell them what really happened. I can't tell anyone until I talk to Maya first.

Maya's POV

"Thanks for coming" I said, giving him a big hug.

"Anytime, kid."

We sat with a pizza between us and ate quietly for the most part, until his curiosity got the best of him.

"So, to what do I owe this visit?" He questioned.

"I gotta have a reason to see you now?"

"No, no. Is this about your mom?" he asked.

"No. Why? Do you want it to be about my mom?" I teased.

He laughed. "How is your mom doing?"

"You know you could just ask her that yourself."

"Touché" he nodded. "But she knows that you're here right?"

I shook my head.

He gave me that look. That parental, "you know better" look.

"Maya, you have to call her." He said in a stern tone.

"No! Not yet. Nobody knows where I am yet. For right now, it's just you and me. And I really need that to last a little bit longer." I pleaded.

"But just call her to let her know you're okay." He reasoned.

"No! If I call her, she'll make you bring me back. And I'm not ready to go back."

Riley's POV

"I wouldn't call it a fight, exactly." Farkle and Lucas both looked at me, unsatisfied with my answer.

"Let's just say, I think it's me she's avoiding, not you, Lucas." I added.

"It's still my fault Riley, because I came between you two, and that wasn't right. You're Riley and Maya. You're the greatest friendship I've ever seen. Until I came along and made things complicated." Lucas replied.

"Life is complicated." I offered in consolation.

Lucas pulled out his phone and tried calling Maya, but came to same result: voicemail. But then his phone made a ding. A text messagey sounding ding.

"Is that a text from Maya?" I asked, hopefully.

"Yeah, it is." Lucas read it aloud. It says: 'Lucas, I just want you to know this isn't your fault.'"

"See? I told ya. It's me." I acknowledged sadly. I didn't want to be right about that.

Lucas texted Maya back asking if she was okay. Maya just responded with an "I'm fine." When a girl says she's fine, she's never actually fine. She's usually quite the opposite of fine.

"Well at least we know she's alive." Farkle said.

"Alive and with her phone." I said. "I have to find her and make things right, and I've got an idea how. I'll see ya guys later."

I left Lucas' house and hurried home.

Maya's POV

"Was that your mom you were texting?" he asked.

"No, Lucas," I answered.

"Oh, I see. This is about boy trouble. Do I need to beat him up?" he offered. I couldn't tell if he was just kidding or actually serious.

"No, it's not boy trouble at all." I assured him.

"What's going on Maya?" He asked, taking a sip of his soda.

"I kissed Riley." I can't believe I said that out loud. He spit out his soda and coughed.

"Sorry, that was poorly timed word vomit." I apologized.

"No, I'm good." He said wiping his face with a napkin. "So, you kissed Riley?"

"I kissed Riley." I can't believe I said it, again.

"Riley?"

"Yep"

"So you and Riley?"

"Yes, please wrap your head around it, or we'll never finish this conversation."

"Sorry, I just have a bunch of questions and I don't know which one to ask first."

I took a guess. "You want to know why I kissed her?"

"Yeah that's one of them," he responded.

"I thought I might have feelings for Riley, as more than just a friend, and when I kissed her, it felt right. I can't deny these feelings anymore."

"And how did Riley react?"

"She looked frozen. She just said "Oh" and then she passed out."

He giggled.

"I'm so glad you find my pain amusing," I responded sarcastically.

"I'm sorry, I'm just picturing that all unfolding in my head." He said through his giggles.

I nodded. "It was very Riley of her."

"Okay, so after she woke up, what did she say?" he returned to a serious tone.

"I don't know, because I'm here with you."

"You haven't spoken to her since the kiss?" he seemed surprised.

"No. I got scared. What if she rejects me?"

"That's a possibility. But what if she was just caught off guard? What if the kiss made her realize that she had feelings for you too?" he suggested.

"Well, then clearly those feelings terrify her into unconsciousness," I reasoned.

"Hey, feelings are scary." He said, sincerely.

"I know. That's why I'm here," I said.

"Maya, you really came to me for relationship advice? Have ya noticed that I'm still single?"

"Well who's fault is that?" I teased.

"Touché"  



	3. Chapter 3

Girl Meets Complicated Chapter 3

Riley's POV

"Daaaaddyyyyyyy!" I yelled, bursting through the door, dashing into the living room. Then I almost tripped over him. He was sitting on the couch with his feet propped up on the coffee table.

"I'm right here." He said, as he helped me regain my balance.

"If I were missing how would you find me?" I asked.

"I'd ask Maya," he replied.

"What if we both were missing?" I asked.

"What is this about, Riley?" he questioned.

"Our phones. You got Maya a smart phone, remember?"

"Yeah."

"So you can use the find my device app," I suggested.

"Maya lost her phone?"

"No, I lost Maya. I'm afraid she might have run away."

"But in class you said she wasn't feeling well," he began to sound very concerned.

"I said 'I guess she's not feeling well.' My guess was wrong."

"Riley, I have to call her mother." He started to reach for his phone.

"Just wait. Track her phone first." I pleaded.

"What is this LoJack app you speak of?"

I grabbed the iPad and opened find my device. He leaned over my shoulder in awe.

"You mean, I can spy on where you all are?" he smiled. "I can't believe I didn't know about this sooner!"

"Look, our phones are here, but Maya's phone is-"

"But Why would she go all the way to-"

"Shawn! Call Shawn!" I exclaimed.

Maya's POV

"Either she rejects me and feels weird about our friendship now and my heart gets broken, or we actually have a thing, but our thing ends badly as most things do, and our friendship is never the same after, and my heart gets broken. I'm screwed no matter how you spin it." I supposed.

Shawn shook his head. "But what if you have a thing and it goes well. What if it turns out to be the best thing that ever happened to both of you?"

"We're not Cory and Topanga." I said.

"No, you're Maya and Riley. And you will never know how great your thing could be if you don't see this through. Just think. If Cory and Topanga didn't see their thing through, there would be no Riley," Shawn reasoned.

"Wow. I can't imagine a world without Riley," I said. Maybe Shawn is on to something.

"Maya, this whole running away thing, it's not you."

"How do you know?"

"Because, we're the same. We're the ones who get left, not the ones who do the leaving." Shawn was right. He continued "And the Maya I know, would never walk out on Riley."

He's right. I need to go back and face her.

Shawn's phone rang.

"Is it my mom?" I asked.

"Nope, it's your teacher." He said.

He answered the phone and put it on speaker. "Cory! I was just talking about you."

"I really hope you were just talking about me to Maya." Cory said.

"Yeah, she's with me. We're just hanging out, having some pizza." Shawn explained nonchalantly.

"Good. I'm glad to hear that. Riley's been really worried about her." Cory said.

"Don't worry, I'll have her on a train home in 20 minutes." Shawn said.

Riley's POV

I was sitting in the bay window, where it all started. I didn't know for sure if she would come here tonight, but I remained hopeful. I waited. Then I heard the doorbell. The doorbell? Who uses that?

I dashed downstairs and opened the door.

"Maya!" I smiled. I threw my arms around her and embraced her tightly. "Since when do you use the front door?"

"I wasn't sure if you would want to see me," Maya said.

Maya's POV

Riley gave me that knowing look and demanded my presence upstairs. "Bay window, bay window right now". I followed her lead.

I followed her into her room and closed the door behind me. She started pacing towards her bed with her hands folded, and then turned around and paced back towards me until she was right in front of me. She was so close to me, I could smell her hair and feel her breaths growing more rapid.

"How ya doin?" I said, trying to settle her nervous hesitation.

In one swift motion, Riley wrapped her arms around me, pushed me back against the door, and kissed me passionately. She pulled away for a moment and looked into my eyes. I moved my hands up to hold her face and gently pulled her back into me. I kissed her back, matching her passion with my own.


	4. Chapter 4

Girl Meets Complicated Chapter 4

Riley's POV

I had to pull away. As much as my lips didn't want to, I could feel my nerves getting the best of me. It was hard to breathe all over again. I pulled back, inhaled sharply, and then sighed.

"Wow. I should run away more often." Maya said with a big grin on her face.

I immediately slapped her arm, almost like a reflex.

"OW!" She complained.

"Never again, Maya Hart!" I could hear myself raising my voice. "Never again, ya hear me!" I was pointing my finger emphatically.

"Okay, sweetie. Calm down." She lowered my finger that I was pointing in her face.

Suddenly, I felt tears welling up in my eyes. I turned away and walked over to the bay window and sat down, hoping Maya didn't notice them. Too late. One tear escaped, cascading down my cheek.

Maya walked over to the bay window and sat next me. She wiped the tear away with her thumb.

"Riley, please don't cry." She said.

"How could you just leave me like that? Just turn my whole world upside down with that beautiful kiss and then leave?" My voice was shaky now. Keep it together, Riley. I can't believe I'm falling apart like this.

Maya's POV

I'm such a jerk. I was so afraid of the heartbreak I might face, I couldn't see the heartbreak I was inflicting. Riley is sensitive. I never should've given into my fears.

I took both of her hands and held them in my own. I looked into her eyes, glistening with the tears that I caused.

"I'm so sorry, Riley. I didn't know what to make of your reaction. I was afraid you were going to reject me and things would be weird between us. I let my fears get the best of me. But Shawn helped me realize, that's not who I am. I'm here now, Riles. I'll always be right here." I assured her.

Riley smiled through her tears. "Oh, Peaches. I'm sorry I passed out on you. I was just in shock."

I smiled. "You're adorable when you're passed out."

"Stop it." She waved her hand and rolled her eyes playfully.

"I'll never stop." I said with a hint of seduction, leaning in for another kiss. She leaned in too and met my lips with her own.

"Please don't stop." Riley managed to part from me long enough to let those three words escape. I started to kiss her lips again and then moved lower, leaving a trail of urgent kisses down her neck. I moved my hand up her arm and cradled the back of her neck.

Riley's POV

I gasped. I was sure all of this attention Maya was giving to my neck would short circuit my senses. It was overwhelming in the best way. But I wanted her lips back on mine. I caressed her face and guided it back up to mine. Our eyes locked, and I felt like the world was just me and her. We kissed again, but were interrupted by a

"Ladies?"

OMG.

"Farkle!" Maya exclaimed.  



	5. Chapter 5

Rilaya Girl Meets Complicated Chapter 5

Riley's POV

Farkle climbed in through the window. He looked at us with a stunned expression. He must have seen us kiss.

"I'm sorry to interrupt, I just came by to see if Maya came back." He clasped his hands and looked down at them awkwardly. He continued "And to see if you two worked things out, which clearly you have, so nice to see you ladies, I'll just be going now."

He started to make his way back toward the window, but Maya stepped in his path.

"Not a word to anyone about this." She demanded.

"I wouldn't even know what to say," he replied. Maya stepped aside and Farkle left through the window.

Maya's POV

Riley looked worried. I'm sure my face mirrored the same sentiment.

"Do you think he's going to tell Lucas?" Riley asked.

"No. He wouldn't." I assured her.

"Now I'm conflicted." Riley said. "I don't want to tell Lucas because it might hurt him, but Farkle is Lucas' best friend and I don't want Farkle to have to keep something from him." Typical Riley. Always putting others ahead of herself. It's one of the many qualities I love about her.

"Sweetie," I took her hand and lead her back to where we were sitting on the bay window. "What would we tell him? We haven't even talked about this ourselves yet."

"You're right. We should probably talk about this. You first." Riley said.

"Why don't you go first?" I countered.

"Because you kissed me first, so you talk first."

Before I could object she summoned "Ring power." Darn. Can't argue with ring power.

I sighed, taking a moment to try to figure out where to begin. "Riley, I've always felt closer to you than to anyone else in my life. When I was with Lucas, I kept thinking about you. At first it was guilt, knowing that you sacrificed your chance with him for me. But then it was more than that. It was like I was comparing him to you, and while you are both golden rays of sunshine, I realized he wasn't my golden ray of sunshine. You are, Riley."

A huge smile spread across Riley's face.

I continued, "I realized in that moment, that I might have feelings for you, and the only way I would know for sure if those feelings were really more than friendship, is if I acted on them."

"And what did you find out when you acted on them?" Riley asked.

"That I do have feelings for you, Riles. Maybe I always have, and just never really understood them until now." I answered.

"And now it's your turn. What are you feeling?" I asked with trepidation.

Riley's POV

"I'm feeling both happy and scared at the same time." I bit my lip, not sure how to explain my feelings.

"What scares you?" Maya asked.

"So many things. How Lucas will react. How our parents will take it. How our classmates will treat us. How strangers will treat us." I replied.

"And what about the happy part?" Maya asked, smiling.

I couldn't help but smile back. "Maya, you are my favorite person in the world. That first kiss, it took me by surprise, but it was amazing. It was exhilarating. I felt like I was getting to know a part of you I hadn't seen before. And I always thought I knew every part of you there was to know."

"So what do you want to do about it, Riley?" Maya asked playfully.

"I want to get know you better." I ran my fingers through her hair and leaned in. I kissed her lips, softly at first, and then more intensely. I parted her lips with my tongue and her tongue danced with mine.

Remember to keep breathing, Riley. It would be really embarrassing to pass out again.

Maya slowly pulled away from our make out session.

"Was I biting?" I asked.

"No" she shook her head.

"Was I bad?"

"No! Riley, you're great."

"Then why did you stop?" I asked.

Maya looked into my eyes and asked "Do you have feelings for me, Riley?"

Wow. Tough questions already. I have to answer this really carefully.

"Maya, If you asked me that before yesterday, I would have said I love you as my best friend. But after you kissed me, I'm not sure now. I feel like things are different between us now, in a good way. I feel even closer to you now, and I like that. I know it's not the answer you want to hear. I'm really not sure, but I want to take a chance and see where this leads us." I explained as delicately as I could.

She nodded in understanding.

Maya's POV

I shouldn't have asked her that so soon. I'm putting too much pressure on her. I need to take a breath and slow down.

"You know what scares me?" I started.

"The possibility that I might not return your feelings the same way?" Riley offered.

"There's something even scarier than that." I said.

"That you're going to have to start wearing rainbows and going to pride with me?" She poked fun.

"Hey, I got no problems with rainbows. Though they do look better on you." I said.

"I know." She smiled

"What are you afraid of Maya?" Riley asked.

"That this is going to end badly. That one of us will hurt the other, and we won't be the same anymore. I never want us to not be friends." I revealed my fears to her.

She put her arm around me and pulled me in for an embrace. "That will never happen, Peaches."

"How can you be so sure?" I asked.

"Because you're my best friend and I will always do my best by you." Riley said.


	6. Chapter 6

Girl Meets Complicated

Chapter 6

Riley's POV

The next morning, I woke up in Maya's arms. Last night, after we talked, when we realized how late it was, she called her mom and told her she would be sleeping over. Maya had slept over plenty of times before, but this time was different. This time we kissed and cuddled and whispered sweet nothings in each other's ears.

Maya was spooning me from behind. I slowly turned myself around and nuzzled my face in her neck. I could hear her heart beating. She must have woken up too, because she gently kissed my head. I can't see her face right now, but I have a feeling she's smiling. I could get used to waking up like this.

Maya's POV

I wish I could wake up with this beautiful girl in my arms every morning. Now that I've got her, I never want to let go. I let out a sigh. I'm getting ahead of myself. One day at a time, Maya.

"Good morning, Sunshine." I whispered.

"Good morning, Peaches." I could feel Riley's smile against my neck.

She pulled herself up to my eye level. I could get lost in those brown eyes for hours. We don't even need to talk. We can just be here together. The morning light is peeking through the bay window, and it's dancing across her tousled hair. I want to capture this. I'm going to paint her exactly as she is right now, with the golden highlights of the morning sun, with her dimples slightly creased and the radiant happiness in her gaze.

Riley's mom yelled from downstairs. "Girls! Breakfast!" We reluctantly climbed out of bed and got ready to start our day.

Riley's POV

Maya and I were standing by our lockers. When I closed my locker door, Farkle was standing behind it. He startled me. He looked at us both, as if he were studying the results of an experiment. I bet that's what he thinks Maya and I are doing: experimenting with our sexuality. Whoa. Is that actually what I'm doing?

"So, what I saw-" Farkle began.

"Nope. Not another word, Farkle." Maya shut him down.

"It's ok, Maya. It's only natural to want to experiment." He said.

"That's not what's happening, Farkle." Maya refuted.

"But I saw you kiss." Farkle argued.

"So if one of us kisses a boy, it's just a normal kiss, but if we're kissing each other, it's an experiment?" Maya asked.

"Are you saying it's more than that?" Farkle asked.

Maya looked at me. She seemed to be searching my face for some kind of answer. But I'm not sure of the answer myself yet. I couldn't possibly admit that to her though. Farkle was looking at me for an answer too.

"Well, Riley? Don't you have anything to say? Or does your girlfriend speak for you now?" Farkle pressed.

"HEY!" Maya said, stepping between Farkle and I. "Back off."

I could feel the tension building and felt like I had to say something to intervene. "Look, Farkle." I started. "You saw what you saw. I'm sure you're making your own deductions about it." Truthfully, I was still doing the same, but I would rather not admit that. "But I'm not ready to talk about it."

"You heard her." Maya said. "Now leave it alone."

Farkle nodded and retreated into the classroom.

Maya's POV

Riley looked very uncomfortable after that exchange. I rubbed her arm. "Don't even worry about Farkle," I said, attempting to console her.

"He thinks that either we're experimenting, or you're my girlfriend. Isn't there any middle ground?" Riley asked.

"Of course there is, sweetie. There's plenty of middle ground, and plenty of time to cross it, " I assured her.

"Maya, I don't want anyone else to know, at least not anytime soon." Riley said.

Whoa. I wonder if Farkle made her feel insecure. I hope she's not having regrets about kissing me. Riley has always cared about what other people think of her, perhaps too much. "Okay, our secret then," I agreed.

"It's not because I'm ashamed, Maya." she explained. "Please don't think that. I could never be ashamed of you. I just need time to explore my feelings without dealing with other people pressuring me to explain them."

Well, that's a relief. At least she's not having regrets. "What happens between you and me, stays between you and me," I reassured her.

"Yeah, you and me and Farkle, oh and don't forget about Shawn. Oh no!" she exclaimed.

"Shawn is not going to out us," I replied.

"He's going to tell my dad." Riley suddenly looked terrified.

"He wouldn't betray my trust like that," I defended him.

"They're Cory and Shawn. There are no secrets between Cory and Shawn!" Riley was starting to panic.

"This is different. This isn't Shawn's secret to share. It's mine." I looked into her eyes. "He won't tell your dad, Riley. Relax. Nobody is going to find out anything until you're ready to tell them. I promise you." I said. Riley seemed to calm down. The bell rang and we headed to class.


	7. Chapter 7

Riley's POV

Maya said she wanted to have lunch in the art studio so she could work on a project. I offered to keep her company but she thought my presence might create too much of a distraction for her. I headed to the cafeteria to have lunch with the boys.

Lucas, Farkle and Zay were already eating. I sat down across from Farkle and Lucas, next to Zay. "Hi guys," I greeted them. Zay looked at me and asked "Where's blondie?"

"Yeah, are you and Maya still in a fight?" Lucas asked.

"No, they definitely made up." Farkle remarked smugly. I shot him a quick glare.

"She is working on something in the art studio," I explained "We were never in a fight. It was just a misunderstanding, but we're okay now."

Zay shook his head. "Classic," he uttered under his breath.

"What?" I asked him.

"She's still avoiding Lucas," Zay said.

"What? No, she really is working on something in the art studio," I defended her.

"Nice cover story. Very believable." he said.

"Riley, could you maybe talk to her for me?" Lucas asked.

Oh no. Lucas is such a good guy. Lying to him is excruciating. It must be hard on Farkle too. I'm not being fair to them. But I'm just not ready to tell Lucas, or anyone else.

"Or maybe if you went out with someone, Maya would see that you're moving on and she wouldn't feel bad about seeing me," Lucas continued. Oh boy, this is awful.

"Oh, I'm sure Maya knows that Riley has moved on." Farkle commented. I stepped on his foot under the table. He winced in pain.

"What if you went out with Charlie?" Lucas suggested.

"Lucas, please. You need to let Maya go." I said.

Lucas looked hurt by what I said. Farkle looked at Lucas and then he looked at me. "Riley, you have to-" Farkle started, but I cut him off by stepping on his foot again.

"No, Farkle. I don't have to go out with Charlie, or do anything else." I glared at him.

Thankfully, the bell rang. I quickly jumped up and left the table.

Maya's POV

I finished putting my paint supplies away and left the art studio. As I left, I collided with someone who was waiting right outside the door.

"Lucas?" Why was he outside the door like that?

"Sorry, didn't mean to bump into you. You know, I really miss you calling me Ranger Rick." Oh dear. He is such a Huckleberry.

"Okay, Ranger Rick, it was nice running into you, but I gotta go," I said.

"Maya, why are you avoiding me?" He asked.

"I'm not, I just have to go to class." I answered.

"Can I see what you were painting?" He asked.

"No! Don't even go near it. It's drying." I really didn't want him to see that painting.

"Just a quick peek?" He's not giving up.

"No, Huckleberry. You can see it when the rest of the class does," I said, pretending that the painting was a class assignment. I walked away, but he followed me to my locker.

"Don't you have a class to get to?" C'mon Huckleberry, take the hint.

"Can we talk, Maya?" he asked. Oh, Huckleberry.

I closed my locker door. "What's on your mind, Ranger Rick?"

"What happened to us?" He asked, sincerely.

"You're a good guy, Lucas, and I care about you very much. But there is no us anymore," I answered delicately.

"But Why?" He asked.

"I already told you." I looked away.

"Because of Riley?" he asked in disbelief.

"Yes, because of Riley." I repeated.

"But Riley is fine with it." Lucas argued.

"Well, I'm not." I answered.

He clasped his hands over his head. "I don't understand, Maya."

"It's more complicated than you think." I said. I quickly walked away and went into my classroom. Wow, keeping this from Lucas is going to be harder than I thought.

Riley's POV

I was sitting on my bed, finishing my homework, when I heard the bay window open. I looked up to see Maya climbing in with what looked like a canvass in her hands. "Peaches!" I smiled and walked over to the bay window to sit next to her.

"Is that what you were working on at lunch?" I asked, looking at the canvass.

"Yep, it is. I made it for you," Maya said as she handed it to me.

"For me?" I asked, excitedly. She smiled and nodded.

I removed the wax paper cover to reveal a stunning, passionate portrait of myself. This must have been what I looked like when I woke up with her this morning. "Maya, it's beautiful. You did this in one day? And just from memory? You're so talented. I love it."

"You inspired me. When I saw you in the morning light, I wanted to capture that moment. I wanted to show you how beautiful you are to me." She said, looking into my eyes. I felt like she was showing me a part of her soul. I'm sure I was blushing through my smile. I will always remember this moment. I leaned in and kissed her softly.

Then I picked up the portrait and grabbed some thumbtacks. I walked toward my closet door and opened it. Maya followed. She watched as I put the thumbtacks on the inside of the closet door and hung the painting on them.

"You're hanging it in the closet?" She laughed.

I turned toward her and wrapped my arms around her, pulling her close.

"Yup, in the closet." I said. "Just like us." I kissed her passionately.

"Thank you for my painting, Peaches." I said after we finished our kiss.

"Thank you for waking up in my arms," She said.

"Anytime."


	8. Chapter 8

Girl Meets Complicated

chapter 8

Maya's POV

The blackboard had the word "Stonewall" written across it. I looked at Riley as she read the board. She gasped and looked at me.

"What?" I asked Riley.

"He knows." Riley said with panic in her eyes. History class was about to get interesting.

Mr. Matthews asked the class "Can anyone tell me about Stonewall? Riley?"

Riley's POV

"Stonewall Jackson right? That is the Stonewall you're referring to right?" Riley asked nervously.

"Nope, not that one," Mr. Matthews replied.

"But he was a confederate general in the civil war. He was very important. I want to learn about him. Teach us about him!" Riley insisted.

"I'm referring to the Stonewall riots that incited the gay rights movement. It happened right here in Greenwich Village in 1969," Mr. Matthews continued.

I whispered across to Maya. "How does he know?"

Maya whispered back. "He doesn't know. No need to go to Rileytown over this."

How can she not see it?! "He knows! He always makes history about our lives." I said.

"Or maybe we go to school in New York City and the educational powers that be saw it fit to include a significant historical event, that took place in New York City, in our curriculum," Maya cleverly responded. I was actually impressed by her logic. "Good point," I conceded.

"Can anyone tell me why this event was significant?" Mr. Matthews asked.

Farkle stood up, "It was the first time the gay community really stood up for themselves. Before that, they were arrested or put into mental hospitals."

"What, really?" I asked. I can't imagine that.

"Yes, really," my dad responded. "Unfortunately, in some states, homosexuality was criminalized and the American Psychiatric Association considered it a mental illness until 1973."

"That's ridiculous!" Maya exclaimed. She looked offended.

"Why do you say that, Maya?" Mr. Matthews asked.

"Why you gotta pick on Maya?" I asked him. Maya answered anyway.

"Because loving someone of the same gender isn't any crazier than loving someone of the opposite gender," Maya declared. What are you saying Maya? You're going to give us away. He's going to figure it out, although I'm not convinced that he hasn't already.

"Why are you teaching us about this?" I questioned my father.

"Because it's June, Riley, the month in which the history of Gay Pride is recognized." He answered.

"Okay, great. Pride recognized. Next lesson," I rushed him.

"Riley, I don't think we're quite done with our discussion," he responded.

"I think we're done. How about Farkle time?" I spun around in my chair and mouthed "Help me" to Farkle.

Farkle raised his hand. "Farkle time, sir?" My dad nodded.

Farkle stood up and flipped the nameplate on my dad's desk from "Mr. Matthews" to "Farkle".

"Okay, Mr. Matthews, I know plenty about Stonewall. Here's what I don't know." Farkle erased the word "Stonewall" from the board and wrote: "Belgium 1831."

He put down the chalk. "Please, Mr. Matthews," he begged. "It's already June, the school year is almost over, and I still don't know what happened in Belgium in 1831! I know everything else but this!" My father obliged. "Okay, Farkle have a seat." He flipped his nameplate back around.

"Belgium 1831-" My father began but was cut off by the bell ringing. "Already? What is this, a fire drill?" My dad asked in disbelief.

"YES!" I cheered at the sound of the bell.

"Nooooo!" Farkle whined. Belgium 1831 had eluded him yet again.

Maya's POV

After school, I walked Riley home. We climbed into her room through the bay window. I could tell she was still preoccupied by our history lesson.

"Maya, I'm telling you, he knows something is going on," Riley said.

"Sweetie, don't you think you're being a little paranoid?" I asked.

"No I don't. Either Shawn told him, or he just knows. Parents always know." Riley said.

"Hey," I wrapped my arms around her shoulders. "If you insist on staying in Rileytown all day, can I at least have a kiss?"

She looked into my eyes and seemed to find a moment of peace. Her lips curved into a half smile and she leaned in. Finally, I get to kiss my girl.

Riley's POV

As our lips parted, I breathed a sigh of relief. No matter what emotion I'm lost in, Maya always knows how to pull me back. But one kiss can't erase my worries entirely.

"Riley, would it be so bad if he knew?" Maya asked. She sat down on my bed.

"Yes!" I sat down next to her.

"But why?"

"Sooooo many reasons," I replied.

"Go on," she urged.

"Well, for one thing, this wouldn't be allowed," I gestured to her sitting on my bed.

"Riles, we're just sitting," she said.

"When I liked Lucas, he wouldn't even let Lucas be in my room," I reminded her.

"But I'm not Lucas. I'm Maya. He's known me forever," she reasoned.

"He's known you as my best friend forever, not my…" I trailed off in uncertainty.

"Yes?" she encouraged. Her eyes widened and a smile spread across her lips.

She thinks I'm going to say girlfriend. She wants me to say girlfriend, doesn't she?

My bedroom door burst open, and my father came marching in. I gasped. He knows that we're talking about him, doesn't he? How do parents know everything? I have to admit that I was relieved by the interruption. I know what Maya wants to hear. I'm just not ready to say it.

"Dad, can you knock from now on? You startled me." I said.

"Sorry, Riley can I talk to you?" he asked.

Maya started to get up from the bed but I put my hand on her knee.

"Whatever you have to say, you can say it in front of Maya." I said, with a conviction that surprised even me.

"Okay. You just seemed uncomfortable in class today, and I was wondering if there was anything you wanted to share with me," he said.

Maya's POV

Oh my gosh. He really does know, doesn't he? Maybe Riley was right. Well, if there was ever a perfect moment to come out, it certainly would be right now. Riley took a deep breath and looked at me. I looked back at her with all the support I could convey with my eyes. No matter what she chooses to say, I'll support her. Riley looked back at her father.


	9. Chapter 9

Riley's POV

I stood up from the bed and took a few steps toward him. Wow, I completely understand why Maya ran away. It's taking every ounce of courage I have not to run out that bay window right now. Where was that conviction I had just a minute ago? I could sure use it now.

"Dad," I started. I looked at him and tears started welling up behind my eyes. "Did Shawn tell you?" My voice was already breaking by the end of that question. Maya came over and put her arm around me, clutching my shoulder. Here come the tears.

My dad looked confused. I tried to be more specific but now I was actually shaking. I leaned against Maya for support. My dad looked from me to Maya.

Maya's POV

"I think what Riley is trying to ask is: did Shawn tell you why I went to see him the other day?" I looked at Riley and she nodded in agreement. Mr. Matthews shook his head.

"No, Maya. Shawn didn't tell me any details about your visit with him."

Riley was leaning on me even more than before. I could feel her shaking with nerves. She looked like she was trying to say something, but she just started sobbing instead. "Okay, honey. Why don't we sit you down?" I suggested. I helped her to the bay window and sat next to her, with my arm still around her.

Mr. Matthews looked at both of us with great concern. "Girls, whatever it is that you're dealing with," he looked at Riley, "I'm your father," and then he looked at me, "and I'm your teacher. You can talk to me. I'm on your side." Mr. Matthews' supportive words, although well-intentioned, just seemed to make Riley break down even further. She buried her face in her hands and sobbed uncontrollably. Her elbows were resting on her shaky knees for support. I could feel her whole body trembling.

"Maya," he started. I looked up at Mr. Matthews. "Is there anything you want to share with me?"

I looked at Riley, but she was still sobbing into her hands. I looked back at him. "I want to, Mr. Matthews," I looked back at Riley, "but maybe now isn't the best time." He nodded in understanding.

"Okay, girls. Whenever you're ready to talk, I'm here." Mr. Matthews left the room and closed the door.

Riley's POV

I lifted my head up and turned into Maya's shoulder. I cried uncontrollably for about a minute. She held me tightly. I felt like she was the only thing holding me together in that moment. I tried to take a deep breath. It took several rounds of deep breaths before I could stop crying long enough to speak.

"I'm sorry, Maya" I managed to get out.

"Oh, honey, there's no need to be sorry," She said.

"I wanted to be brave," I pushed those words out over a sob.

"I know you did, Riles. It's okay, I got you." she comforted me.

"Maya, I'm scared," I confessed.

"I know you are, honey. I am too. And you know what? It's okay to be scared. Nobody says you have to face your fears right this minute," Maya said. She planted a kiss on my head.

Her phone made a ding. A text messagey sounding ding. I released her arm that I had been clutching onto for support. She pulled out her phone and read it.

"But it looks like I may have to go face mine," she said.

I sat up and looked at her. "What do you mean?" I asked.

"It's my mom," she said. "She wants me to come home, says we need to talk."

"What is this? First my dad, now your mom." I remarked.

"And it's not even national coming out day," she joked.

"Do you want me to come with you?" I offered.

"No, sweetie. You've been through enough today. I can do this."

I know she can. Maya is the bravest person I know. I love that about her. I wish I could've channeled her courage, I just didn't know how. She kissed me goodbye, and climbed out the bay window. I lied down on my bed. I was both emotionally and physically exhausted.

Maya's POV

My mom was waiting for me in the kitchen when I got home. "Hey, Mom." I greeted her. "What's up?" I asked. She looked down at the counter. My sketchbook was sitting on the counter.

Wait.

My sketchbook is on the counter?

I opened my backpack and searched in disbelief, because surely I wouldn't have left it lying around. I always bring it to school with me. But of course it wasn't in my backpack, because it was sitting right there on the counter. How is this happening?

"I found your sketchbook on the floor. You must have dropped it this morning," she began. "It was open when I found it." She continued.

Uh oh.

She opened the sketchbook to show me the drawing she accidentally discovered. "And I couldn't help but see this lovely drawing of Riley," she said.

Oh no. Not good.

"I'm sorry if you think I invaded your privacy Maya, but I looked at some more of the pages."

Oh my gosh. Is this seriously happening right now?

She flipped through the pages of my sketchbook. "And every single page was another beautiful drawing of Riley."

Kill me. Just kill me.

She continued to turn the pages. "It's just Riley, after Riley, after Riley, oh and look some more Rileys."

Why, Universe? Why do you hate me? Please, let me get struck by lightning right now.

"Maya, this entire sketchbook, every single page, is Riley." She finally closed the sketchbook and looked up at me. "Is there something you want to tell me?"


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Maya's POV

Well, there is no coming back from this. Art doesn't lie. I took a deep breath. Everything is about to change.

"Mom," I started.

"Yes, Maya?"

"I've never said this out loud before."

"Said what baby girl?"

"I'm in love with Riley Matthews."

She stared at me with an expression that I couldn't quite read.

"What did you say?" she asked

I pulled one of the kitchen stools over to her and helped her sit down. She looked like she needed to sit down before hearing me say this again.

"I said, I'm in love with Riley," I repeated.

"I'm sorry, I'm a little confused. Didn't you just go on a date with Lucas a couple of weeks

ago?" she asked.

"Yes, I did. But I broke up with him because I have feelings for Riley," I explained.

"So, you've only had these feelings for a couple of weeks?" she asked.

I shook my head as I flipped through the pages of my sketchbook. "I didn't draw all of these sketches in just the past few weeks," I said.

"Does Riley know?" she asked.

"I told her that I have feelings for her. I haven't told her that I'm in love with her yet."

"Do you want my advice, Maya?" she asked.

"Sure." I said.

"Don't," she said.

"Don't love her?" I asked, confused.

"Don't tell her," she explained

"But what if she feels the same way?" I asked.

"Maya, it doesn't matter. You're both much too young to be in love with anyone, let alone with each other."

"What is that supposed to mean?" I asked, defensively.

"You're too young to be in love, and you're too young to know that you're gay," she clarified.

I was suddenly getting the feeling that if I had come home to a confrontation about a sketchbook full of Lucas, that this would have been a very different conversation.

"I never said that I'm gay," I stated.

"Well, what do you think you're going to be labeled as if you start dating Riley?" she asked.

"I really don't care what anyone wants to call us or call me. I call myself lucky." I said with a smile. "I'm lucky to have her in my life. I'm lucky that when I kiss her, she kisses me back. And I'm so lucky that we get to live in a world where it's not 1969 anymore."

"So you and Riley have been kissing?" She asked, with her eyebrows raised.

I blushed and looked away. "Yes, we have," I admitted.

"Do her parents know that?" she asked.

I suddenly looked back up at her with panic. "No, and you can't tell them."

"Maya, you spend a lot of time in Riley's bedroom. They ought to know." Okay, I admit, my mom wasn't wrong about that, and honestly, I had really wanted to tell Mr. Matthews earlier, but it's not up to me.

"I know, but Riley isn't ready. You can't just out her to her parents. She needs to do it herself, when she feels comfortable enough to tell them. Promise me, you won't tell them."

She considered it for a moment and let out a sigh.

"Okay, fine. I won't say anything, for now," she agreed. "But Maya, at your age, you should be focusing on yourself, on discovering your passions and improving your grades; not getting caught up in your feelings."

I flipped through the sketchbook again. "Don't you see, Mom? My art and my music, those are my passions, and they're how I deal with my feelings. They're directly inspired by my emotions."

She nodded, "But what about your grades, Maya?"

Is she really playing the academics card? What does that have to do with anything?

"You get Straight D's, maybe a C if it's a good day," she said.

"I got an A in English once. I get straight A's in art class," I argued.

"You're about to start high school. If you continue this pattern, then that portfolio is all you're going to have. You won't be able to get into any college that isn't an art school."

"Why do you say 'art school' like it's a bad word?" I could hear my voice raising but I couldn't stop it. She had it a nerve. "Aren't you an actress? Acting is a dramatic art! You're such a hypocrite!"

"Am I Maya? Look around! We barely get by! Am I a hypocrite for wanting you to have a better life?" She yelled back at me. "If you focused your energy on applying yourself in any other class besides art, then at least you would have some options. That's what you should be doing with your time, not fooling around with Riley," she lectured.

"Okay, Mom. So when I come home with straight A's on my report card, then what will it be? Then what will you tell me is a better use of my time than Riley?" I yelled back. "Just admit it. You don't want me to date Riley because she's a girl. You had no objections to me going out with Lucas a couple weeks ago, and I had the same exact grades then." My accusation hung heavily in the air between us for a moment. Her silence spoke volumes.

"This is what I get for raising you in Greenwich Village. You turn out to be a lesbian fine arts major," she said.

"I'm not listening to this anymore." I give up. There are two wonderful things in my life: Riley and my art. She views both of them as disappointments.

I picked up my sketchbook and stormed off into my room. I shoved some clothes into my backpack, and then headed towards the front door.

"Where are you going, Maya?" she asked.

"I'm staying at Riley's tonight," I decided.

"You want to ask my permission first?" She asked.

"Oh, I think you'll let me," I scoffed.

"Oh really? You think so?" she quipped.

"Yeah you see, if I'm not around, then you won't have to be disappointed by me anymore," I said as I walked out the door.

"Maya!" She called after me, but I let the door slam and kept going.

Riley's POV

I was awakened by the sound of the bay window opening. "Peaches? Is that you?" I asked, as I sat up in bed. Maya came over and climbed into bed with me. She was crying. I wrapped my arms around her as she sobbed into my chest.

"You came out to your mom, didn't you?" I asked.

She nodded into my chest.

"And it didn't go very well, did it?"

She shook her head.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

She shook her head and sobbed even harder.

"Okay, Peaches. I'm here. I got you." I held her tighter. "It's been a tough day in Rileytown and Mayaville."

She nodded in agreement. I gently kissed her on her forehead.

"Maya, you're the bravest person I've ever known." I said.

She slid her hand down my arm, finding my hand, weaving her fingers with mine. Our friendship rings touched.

"Ring Power," Maya whispered.

"Ring Power," I whispered back.

"Thunder."

"Lightning."


	11. Chapter 11

Author's Note: Thank you to everyone who has read this story all the way to chapter 11 so far! Thank you to everyone who has favorited or followed it and thank you to everyone who has left reviews. I'm so glad my story is resonating with you, and I really appreciate your feedback :-)

Riley's POV

The next day at school, Maya seemed distant. Not physically, she was by my side as always, but she wasn't her usual self. Her eyes are like mood rings. When she's happy they're a vibrant tint of blue. When she's sad they're a tone of bluish-grey. Today I couldn't even find a spec of blue, like an overcast of clouds eclipsing the sky. There was only one other time in the history of our friendship that I've ever seen her eyes this grey, and that was when her father left.

She still hadn't told me what happened between her and her mom when she came out. She just asked if she could stay at my house for awhile because she wasn't ready to go home yet. She already had one parent disown her. I certainly hope I'm not the reason she loses her relationship with parent who stayed.

We were at our lockers when Lucas and Farkle came over to us.

"Hey Maya, I'm looking forward to seeing you tomorrow night," Lucas said.

What did he just say? They're not still seeing each other, are they? I looked at Maya, she looked confused.

"I don't remember us having any plans, Huckleberry," she said.

"I meant at the talent show. I'm looking forward to your performance," Lucas clarified.

"What? There's a talent show? I didn't even sign up." Maya replied.

"Actually, it was me," Farkle admitted. "I signed you up for the talent show, Maya."

"Really, why didn't you tell me?" Maya asked Farkle.

Farkle explained, "Well, I noticed the sign up sheet on that day you were absent, and I figured if you had been here to see it, that you probably would have been interested, so I wrote down your name. I was going to tell you that night, in the bay window, but then I forgot about it because that thing happened-"

"Okay! I get it now," Maya cut him off.

"What thing happened?" Lucas asked.

"Nothing!" Both Maya and I answered unintentionally at the same time. We looked at each other. Well, that wasn't conspicuous at all. I quickly changed the subject.

"Farkle! What a great idea! Signing Maya up for the talent show was so thoughtful of you," I said.

"Uh, I don't know you guys," Maya said in uncertainty.

"C'mon Maya, you're a great singer. You should do it," Lucas encouraged her.

"But it's tomorrow night, that doesn't give me much time to prepare," Maya countered.

"But it would be a great opportunity to showcase one of your songs," Farkle pointed out.

"What do you think, Riles?" she looked at me.

"I think you're the best there is," I said. "And I think a songwriting session is exactly what you need right now." Maya smiled. She finally smiled! First time she's done that all day.

"Okay, then I'm in," Maya said.

I watched her eyes transform with her mood as if they were kaleidoscopes being turned. There they were: the specs of blue fighting their way back through the grey. I was mesmerized.

"Riles, why you looking at me all dopey like that?" she asked.

I sighed. "I was just watching the blue come back into your eyes." Did I really just say that out loud? She grinned and gave me a quick hug.

"I'm gonna go to the music room and see if I can come up with something. I'll see you guys later," Maya said.

I turned to see Farkle and Lucas looking at me like I was crazy. Time to change the subject again. I put my hand on Farkle's shoulder. "I'm really glad you signed Maya up for the talent show, Farkle. You're a great friend."

Farkle did his signature bow. "Thank you! I am Farkle!"


	12. Chapter 12

Maya's POV

It figures that the music room would be fresh out of instruments the day before the talent show. All of them had been checked out already, which meant that I had to go home to get my guitar. Luckily, it was still early and I knew my mom wouldn't be home yet.

I picked up my guitar and sat on my bed. This is the guitar that Riley gave me. She inherited it from her great grandmother, Rosie McGhee. Rosie was given this guitar by my great grandmother May Clutterbucket. They crossed paths in a cafe here, in Greenwich Village, back in 1961. The universe is a pretty wild place.

I started strumming some chords. It was easy for me to start writing. It was probably the easiest songwriting session I've ever had, because I had plenty of feelings to express. Riley was right, this is exactly what I needed. I was really engrossed in my songwriting and completely unaware of how much time was passing.

The sound of tapping at my window snapped me back to reality. I looked over and saw Riley waving and smiling at me. I opened the window.

"Peaches, I thought you might be here," she said. "It's almost time for dinner."

"Oh, it's that late already?" I said.

Riley nodded. She tried to climb in through the window, but tripped on the window ledge and fell on top of me. We both hit the floor with a collective "Ow!"

"Riley Superclutz strikes again," she said.

"Are you falling for me, Matthews?" I asked playfully.

Her eyes met mine and she blushed. She leaned down and kissed me, harder than usual. I ran my hands down her back and slid them into her back pockets. My songwriting session turned into a make out session on the floor, and I was not complaining.

Riley's POV

Maya sliding her hands into my back pockets pretty much confirmed what I suspected: her mom must not be home. I was going to take full advantage of this opportunity to be alone with her. I kissed my way down her neck with urgency. She gasped. She was wearing a plaid button down shirt. I unclasped the top button. She squeezed my butt. I took that as encouragement to continue. I planted a trail of kisses down to her collar bone and then back up to her neck. I could hear her breathing grow heavier. I wanted to make her feel the way she made me feel when she kissed my neck in the bay window.

Maya's POV

I don't know what's gotten into Riley, but I like it. Her lips against my neck were soft but dangerous. She was driving me crazy in the best way, but when she started sucking on my neck, I had to stop her.

"Riley don't," I objected.

She pulled away. We both sat up, she straddled my lap.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"As enjoyable as that was, I can't go onstage tomorrow night with a hickey," she said.

"So, what you're saying is, I can give you a hickey after the talent show?" Riley asked seductively.

"You can do whatever you want with me honey, I'm yours." I answered sincerely.

That made her smile even bigger than usual. I kissed one of her dimples.

I looked down and noticed blood on the floor. I surveyed Riley for any sign of injury, and spotted a cut on her elbow.

"Oh, honey you're bleeding," I said.

"I am?" she looked at her elbow. "I must have cut it when I fell."

"See? This is why you need to leave the climbing through windows stuff to me," I lectured.

"Well, bay windows are a lot more climber friendly," she said in her defense.

We stood up and I took her by the hand to the kitchen. I turned on the faucet and placed her elbow underneath it. I grabbed some first aid supplies from the medicine cabinet in the bathroom and quickly returned.

"This might sting a little," I warned her as I cleaned the cut with antibacterial soap. I patted it dry, put some ointment on it, and covered it with a square band aid.

"Thanks Peaches," she said.

I planted a kiss on her arm near the band aid.

"Aww, you kissed my boo boo," Riley said with a smile.

"Does it hurt?" I asked.

"Only a little. I'm fine," She answered.

Riley's POV

Just then, the front door opened. Maya's mom was home.

"Maya?," she said surprised. "You're home." She looked at me "Hi Riley."

"Hi, Ms. Hart." I greeted her.

"I just came to get my guitar," Maya responded coldly.

"How are you?" I asked Ms. Hart.

"I'm glad to see you both," she answered. "Are you okay?" she noticed the first aid supplies and my band aid.

"Oh, you know me, clumsy as always. Maya just patched me up," I explained.

"Will you be staying for dinner, Riley?" Maya's mom asked.

"No, Mom. We already told Riley's parents we would be having dinner over there," Maya answered for me.

"But why don't you join us Ms. Hart?" I added. Maya glared at me.

"What are you doing?" Maya questioned me.

I looked at Maya, then I looked at her mom, and then I looked back at Maya. "I don't want to come between you and your mom."

Maya squeezed my hand. "You're not, Riles. This is our stuff. It's not your fault."

"So then I can invite her to join us for dinner?" I asked.

"No, Riley. I know you can't help yourself, but trust me. You can't fix this." Maya went in her room briefly to grab her guitar and her backpack and then she headed for the door. "You coming?" she asked.

I looked at Ms. Hart, and then back at Maya. "In a minute, I'll catch up with you." She shrugged and headed out the door.

"Thanks for inviting me, Riley," Maya's mom said.

"Ms. Hart-" I started

"Riley, you can call me Katie," she interrupted.

I smiled. "Katie," I started "Do you remember when I invited you to Maya's art show and you didn't show up?" I asked.

"Yes, Riley. I remember," Katie said.

"There's a talent show tomorrow night at school, and Maya is performing a song. I think it would mean a lot to her if you were there. Will you come?" I asked, hopefully.

"Riley, I don't think Maya would want me there," she answered.

"It may not be what she wants, but it's what she needs." I insisted. "Please, come."

"Why would you even try again when you know that I just disappointed you last time?" She asked.

"Because I'm Riley Matthews. I have an uncontrollable need to fix people's lives and unwavering hope that people can redeem themselves if given the chance to. That's just who I am."

Katie came over to me and gave me a hug. "I can see why my daughter is so fond of you."

I smiled and headed for the door. I looked back at her. "I'll see you tomorrow night, Katie."


	13. Chapter 13

[Author's note: For the talent show chapter, the song I envisioned Maya singing, is actually a song by Sabrina Carpenter (the actress who plays Maya) called "Two Young Hearts" from her Eyes Wide Open album. The lyrics below (typed in italics) are the intellectual property of Sabrina Carpenter. No copyright infringement intended. If you want to hear the song, so you can better imagine this chapter as you are reading it, you can find it on youtube here: https: youtu .be 3d86CS4A2Kc (I'm not sure if links are allowed in story text so I removed the two / slashes after https: and the one slash / after .be and I added a space after youtu). Enjoy! Reviews are always appreciated. I would also be interested to hear what you, the readers, want to see happen next for the characters. Thanks for reading :-) ]

Girl Meets Complicated

Chapter 13

Riley and I stood in the audience in the gym, awaiting my turn to perform in the talent show. We watched our friends and classmates perform. Farkle had already performed an adorable tap dance number, which was quite the crowd pleaser. Zay was now up there, dancing gracefully with his ballet class partner. Lucas had been cheering on both Farkle and Zay from across the gym.

I turned to Riley. "I'm a little nervous."

She reassured me, "I know you'll be great, Peaches." Her eyes wandered into the crowd like she was scanning it for someone.

"Maya, don't get mad at me," she said.

"I could never," I replied.

"I invited your mom," she confessed.

"Of course, you did." I've come to expect this from Riley. "Just like when you tried to get her to come to my art show."

Her eyes grew wide. "Except this time, she actually came! Yay!" Riley nodded toward the door. I turned around and saw my mom had just entered the gym. Riley waved and smiled. My mom returned the gesture. I turned back to face Riley.

"Are you mad?" she asked.

I considered my answer for a moment. I looked at my mom and then back at Riley.

"No, actually, I'm glad she's here. I need her to hear this song too," I decided.

"Next up, we have a song from Maya Hart!" the host announced. Lucas, Zay and Farkle applauded supportively.

"Yeah, Maya!" Lucas cheered. Riley gave me a quick hug. "Kill it, Peaches!"

Riley's POV

Maya put her guitar on over her shoulder and took the stage. I couldn't help but notice how beautiful she looked in the spotlight.

"This song is called, "Two Young Hearts," she said. She started playing.

" _It's a narrow line, I'm walkin', better watch my step,"_

She looked at me.

"" _Cause we got everybody talkin'. And I can hear 'em say_ ,"

Her eyes shifted to Lucas.

" _Maybe in another lifetime_ ,"

Her eyes shifted again, this time to her mom.

" _Maybe when you're older._

 _What they don't know is,_

 _I've already made up my mind._

 _And yes I know what love is_."

She looked back at me and our eyes locked.

" _Cause we are_

 _Two old souls, with two young hearts._

 _We can run._

 _I will follow you to the end of the earth,_

 _Where we can see forever,_

 _They can never tear us apart,_

 _Two old souls with two young hearts_.

 _Two young hearts_."

I couldn't hold back my huge smile. She was serenading me with such hopeful, romantic lyrics. Her vocals were stunning. Her eyes shot over to her mom again.

" _They say we're too young._ "

Then her eyes returned to mine.

" _I could lie awake in darkness,_

 _Oh, just to dream of you_."

She smiled back at me. My heart skipped a beat.

" _And you could lay your head on my chest,_

 _Just like you always do_."

I started to feel butterflies in my stomach. I could feel my cheeks blushing. I was sure my heart would explode before the end of the song. What are you doing to me, Peaches?

" _Maybe in another lifetime,_

 _Maybe when we're older,_

 _At least we know that,_

 _We've already made up our minds,_

 _And yes we know what love is_.

 _Cause we are_

 _Two old souls, with two young hearts._

 _We can run._

 _I will follow you to the end of the earth,_

 _Where we can see forever,_

 _They can never tear us apart,_

 _Two old souls with two young hearts_.

 _Two young hearts_."

 _We're gonna keep on runnin',_

 _Runnin' for all that we are._

 _We want it, all or nothing._

 _We knew it right from the start._

 _We are part of something_

 _Something as old as time, time, time._

 _Cause we are_

 _Two old souls, with two young hearts._

 _We can run._

 _I will follow you to the end of the earth,_

 _Where we can see forever,_

 _They can never tear us apart,_

 _Two old souls with two young hearts_.

 _Two young hearts_.

She looked back at her mom for the final line of the song.

" _You're never too young._ "

The whole gym erupted in applause. "Yeah Peaches!" I cheered. Farkle crossed the gym amid the applause. "I knew it! I knew she would be great in the talent show if I signed her up!" He said.

I nodded in agreement. "She's amazing."

I looked at Farkle and leaned in closer so he could hear me over the cheers.

"Farkle," I began.

"Yes, Riley?"

"What you saw in the bay window, Maya and me, that kiss, it wasn't experimenting. It's so much more than that," I admitted.

"I know, Riley," He replied.

"You do?" I asked, surprised.

"Well I AM a genius," he responded smugly. I rolled my eyes at him.

He continued, "But it doesn't take a genius to see the way you two look at each other."

I smiled. "Farkle," I began again.

"Yes, Riley?"

"If Maya and I became a couple, would you be okay with it?" I asked him.

His expression seemed to imply that I should know better. Maybe I did know, but I still wanted to hear him say it. He's known Maya and I since we were little kids. The three of us had alway been friends, and now things were starting to change.

"Riley, I've always been your friend. I promised to love you both the same. Nothing could change that. I want you and Maya to be happy, always."

I gave him a big hug. He said exactly what I needed to hear. "Thanks, Farkle."


	14. Chapter 14

chapter 14

Maya's POV

Performing my song in front an audience was even more rewarding than I imagined it would be. I'm really glad I did this. I'll have to thank Farkle again for entering me in the talent show. It felt really good to be able to express myself musically. I took my guitar off and stepped off the stage. As soon as I did, Lucas suddenly appeared right in front of me. He quickly wrapped his arms around me, trapping me in a congratulatory hug. I could see Riley and Farkle across the stage. Riley's eyes were locked on Lucas.

"Maya, you were so great!" he complimented me with a big smile.

"Thanks Lucas." I replied, pulling out of the hug.

"You wrote that song?" he asked.

"Yeah, I did." I answered.

Then Lucas did the unthinkable. I guess I should have seen it coming, but it took me completely by surprise. He took my face in his hands and he tried to kiss me. It all happened so fast. His lips were already on mine before I had the chance to push him back. I couldn't believe he would do this. Hadn't I made it clear to him that what we had was over? I immediately shoved him off of me.

"What are you doing?!" I scolded him. Riley definitely saw the attempted kiss. I could see her hurrying around the stage, with Farkle not far behind.

"I just thought…" he trailed off. He seemed confused by my rejection. Really Huckleberry?

"What? What were you thinking?" I pressed.

"The lyrics, I thought you were singing about me, about us," he explained.

I shook my head vehemently. "No, no, no, Lucas, no."

"But you looked right at me," he argued.

"Like one time! And the part I was singing when I looked at you was 'maybe in another lifetime', as in you and me are not going to happen in this lifetime." How was that not clear to him by now?

"Alright, then who is he? Who is the song about?"

I stared at him in silence, not sure of how I should answer his question.

"I want to shake his hand, and tell him what a lucky guy he is."

Oh, Ranger Rick. You're such a Ranger Rick.

"Well, you can't," I answered.

"Who is he, Maya?" he asked again.

"There is no he. It's not about a he at all." Did I really just admit that to him?

Just then Riley walked up behind me and wrapped her arms around me.

"It was about me, wasn't it?" Riley asked.

I spun around in her embrace to face her. I nodded.

"I'm sorry about what you just saw happen," I apologized.

"Wait a minute," Lucas interrupted.

We turned to face Lucas together. "The song is about Riley?" he asked, confused.

"Yes," I confirmed. "It's about Riley." He shifted his eyes from me to her.

"So you two are together?" he asked, incredulously.

"That depends," Riley answered. I turned to face her. What does she mean?

"On what?" Lucas asked.

"On her answer," Riley said, with a calm confidence in her voice.

Riley took both of my hands in her own. Oh my gosh. My heart started beating faster.

"Peaches?" she started.

"Yes?" Breathe, Maya. If she weren't holding my hands still, I was sure they'd be trembling. I was so nervous, but she wasn't. Her face was beaming with hope.

"Will you be my girlfriend?" she asked. I could feel my eyes grow wide and a huge smile spread across my face. I looked into her sweet brown eyes.

"Of course I will, honey. Nothing would make me happier." I wrapped my arms around her and pulled her close. I held her so tightly. We were in a gym full of people, but in that moment there in each other's arms, we were the only two people in the world.

"What just happened?" Lucas asked. Farkle, who had been watching the whole exchange in silence, stepped in. He put his hand on Lucas' shoulder.

"C'mon Lucas. Milkshakes on me."


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

Maya's POV

"Thank you." I whispered in Riley's ear as we cuddled in her bed.

"For what?" she asked.

"For asking me to be your girlfriend. For having the courage to do it right in front of Lucas and Farkle. For encouraging me to do the talent show. For inviting my mother. For everything, Riles." I smiled at her, and she smiled back at me with those adorable dimples.

"Thank you, Peaches."

"For what?" I asked.

"For having the courage to kiss me in the bay window. For having the courage to tell your mom how you feel. For writing a song about your feelings for me and having the courage to sing it in front of everyone. For everything," she said. I kissed her lips softly.

"Riles," I started. "I'm sorry about the Lucas kissing me thing," I apologized again.

"It's okay. I guess I needed the push. Seeing someone else kiss you made me jealous, but I had no right to be if I wasn't brave enough to ask you to be mine," Riley explained. "And now you are."

"I'm all yours." I agreed.

"You better be, Peaches."

"You're going to be one of those possessive girlfriends aren't you?" I teased.

"Yeah, you might as well get used to it," she teased back.

Riley's POV

I woke up in Maya's arms again this morning, but this time it felt even more right. I guess it's because we made it official.

Last night, after the talent show, Maya and I tried to find her mom in the crowd but we couldn't. She must have left already, but I wondered why she didn't say anything to Maya first. I think I was the only one worried about her mom, because Maya seemed happier than I've seen her in days. Her eyes were sparkling blue.

We decided to spend our Saturday going on our first official date. We hopped on the 6 train at Bleecker street and rode it up to Central Park.

It was a beautiful spring day, perfect for a walk in the park. We didn't have any particular plan or direction. She took my hand in her own and we walked aimlessly in the sunshine. We were holding hands in public for the first time as a couple. We held hands plenty of times as friends but this time, it meant so much more to me. I looked at all the other couples walking around the park, holding hands, taking pictures together, lying on the grass together, and I looked at Maya. Her golden waves were blowing in the breeze. She's so beautiful. How did I get so lucky?

Maya's POV

I lead Riley towards the Bethesda Terrace. The Bethesda Fountain is one of my favorite places in the city. We sat down on the edge of the fountain.

"Riles, you see the Angel in the center of the fountain?" I started.

"Yeah, she's beautiful," Riley commented.

"It's my favorite sculpture," I said. "Emma Stebbins, the artist, she was the first woman to ever receive a major commission for a sculpture in New York City."

"Wow, you go Emma Stebbins!" Riley said looking up at the angel. "How long ago was that?" she asked.

"It was back in 1864," I answered. "You know what else is cool about Emma Stebbins?"

"What?" Riley asked, looking back at me.

"She fell in love with a woman."

"Really?" Riley's eyes grew wide.

"She fell in love with a famous actress named Charlotte Cushman. They were really good for each other. Emma was shy and didn't always believe in herself. She never would have went for a big commission like this if she didn't have Charlotte to encourage her."

Riley smiled.

"Just like I wouldn't have done the talent show, if you didn't encourage me," I continued. "Just like I wouldn't have displayed my painting in the art show if you didn't push me to."

"Every Emma needs a Charlotte," Riley said. I caressed her face.

"You're my Charlotte." I looked up at the sculpture, an then back at Riley. "You're my angel." Riley smiled. She slowly leaned in and kissed me.

"How do you know so much about all this?" Riley asked.

"From that big art book Ms. Casale gave me," I answered.

"The one you abandoned in the bakery because you thought you'd never be as good as the artists in the book?" Riley asked.

I nodded. "The one you saved for me, with your little note with the stick figure drawings of us that said 'Maya's art goes here. Change the world.'" I smiled at the thought of those cute little stick figures.

"You will change the world, Maya," Riley said.

"So will you, Riles," I said.

"I'm not so sure about that," she said.

"Well, I am." I said.

"Maya, the way that you're so passionate about art, the way you look at world because of it, I wish I had that about something, anything. I have no idea what I'm good at or what I'm going to do with my life," Riley said.

"You're good at believing in people. You're always trying to make someone's life better. You're so compassionate and kind. I bet you would make a great social worker," I suggested.

"Yeah, maybe I would." She smiled as she contemplated the possibility.

"Peaches?" she started.

"Yes, honey?" I answered.

"What happened to Emma and Charlotte? Did they live happily after after?"

"They loved each other for 19 years."

"Then what happened?" She asked.

"Sadly, Charlotte died from breast cancer," I revealed.

"Oh no," Riley lamented. "Poor Emma."

"Emma passed away six years later. But her art is still here."

We stood up and took one last look at the fountain. I looked back at Riley.

"Promise me you won't die first," I demanded.

"Peaches, how could I possibly promise that?" Riley answered.

"I don't know what I would do without you for six years," I said, sadly.

She took my face in her hands, and looked into my eyes.

"You would think back to our very first date. You would remember this moment, right here, right now. You would remember, that you were my Emma, and I was your Charlotte. And you'll know I'm waiting for you, wherever I am." She kissed me softly, but I pulled her closer and kissed her back harder than I ever have, because I might need to remember this kiss everyday for however many days fate may eventually keep us apart.


	16. Chapter 16

[Author's note: Thank you so much for reading my story this far, and thank you to everyone who has left reviews. I really appreciate the reviews! When I started this story, I was posting a new chapter everyday, but now, I'm starting classes again, so I won't be able to work on it everyday. I might only be able to post one chapter every week now, but I am still very committed to continuing this story though. Thanks again!]

Chapter 16

Riley's POV

We woke up together again on Sunday morning. I'm not complaining, but I worried that the longer Maya waited to mend things with her mother, the harder it would be. As much as I love it when she sleeps in my bed, I want her to feel like she can go back to her own.

We got out of bed and got dressed.

"Maya, why won't you tell me what your mom said to you?" I asked. She looked at me with an expression of dread. "I can't do that, Riles." she responded.

"Peaches-"

"No, Riley."

She started making my bed. She never makes my bed. She wants out of this conversation that badly?

"Maya, It's Sunday morning, just go home and talk to your mom. You can't avoid her forever," I insisted.

"Sure, I can," she replied, dryly.

"I bet that's what your dad said too."

She dropped my blanket and spun around to face me. The look on her face confirmed that I had definitely gone too far with that comment.

"What did you just say to me?" she asked. Her voice was fighting to hide how hurt she was. Her eyes resented me.

"You're his daughter, like it or not, you are half him," I explained.

"I am nothing like him." She said each word slowly, but emphatically, as if she were trying to contain herself from exploding at me.

"Then don't walk out on your mom, Maya" I made my point, and I think she understood. Her tense body language relaxed. She let out a sigh. The resentment fell from her eyes, now she looked at me with clarity.

She nodded slightly. "Yeah, okay," she agreed. Her voice was calm and resolute. She grabbed her backpack, gave me a quick goodbye kiss, and headed out the bay window.

Maya's POV

I opened the door to my apartment and walked in.

"Whoa!" I exclaimed.

I was startled by the sight of Shawn in his boxers and tube socks, making a pot of coffee, in my kitchen. He turned around, and looked embarrassed.

"Maya, hey! I thought you were going to be at Riley's all weekend."

"Yeah, so did I," I said, looking at the floor.

"I'm gonna go put on some clothes," he said, awkwardly.

"Good idea," I agreed.

I went to my room and unpacked the clothes out of my backpack. Are Shawn and my mom sleeping together now? I guess that's good news. Ugh, stop thinking about it. Ew. Ewww.

I heard Shawn and my mom talking in the kitchen. I went back into the kitchen to join them. Fortunately, they were both fully clothed this time.

Shawn was pouring two cups of coffee from the pot.

"Maya, you want coffee?" he offered.

"Yes, please". I couldn't help but smile. I liked seeing him here, in my kitchen, in the morning, making coffee. It felt right.

My mom felt the need to explain the situation. "Shawn was in town working on a story and we met up last night. I offered to let him stay here while he's in town."

"Oh, how long are you in town?" I asked Shawn.

"Uh, I'm not sure. It's an ongoing piece, I don't have a set deadline right now," he said.

"Maya, are you staying or are you going back to Riley's?" My mom asked.

"Riley wants me to work things out with you. And I want to do that too. I just don't know how," I answered, honestly. Shawn's eyes shifted between my mom and me.

"I'll just leave you two alone," he said.

"No, stay," I insisted. "Maybe you can help us."

"It's not fair to put Shawn in the middle of this," My mom argued.

"Well, Riley isn't here to play mediator. And we don't communicate so well by ourselves." I defended my stance.

"What's going on?" Shawn asked. My mom looked uncomfortable.

"Remember how I told you about that kiss with Riley?" I started to explain.

"Yeah, how did Riley feel about it?" he asked.

I smiled. "She asked me to be her girlfriend."

"See! I told ya!" He gave me a high five.

"Hold on," my mom interrupted. "You talked to Shawn about Riley?" she asked, surprised.

"I just needed someone to talk to, mom," I answered.

She turned to Shawn, "And you encouraged her?"

"Yeah, she had already kissed Riley at that point, so I thought she should see it through. I encouraged her to tell Riley how she feels about her," Shawn explained.

"You encouraged my teenage daughter to be gay?" she asked in an accusatory tone.

"I encouraged her to face her fears, and be honest with Riley about her feelings. I encouraged her to be herself," he continued.

"She is only fourteen, do you really think these feelings are appropriate at her age?" my mother questioned Shawn.

"Yeah, don't all fourteen year olds have crushes and feelings? I did at that age, didn't you?" he questioned her back.

"Sure. But were the feelings you had at your age for Cory?" my mom asked.

"No Katie, but if they were, they wouldn't be any less appropriate. Sometimes best friends develop feelings for each other. And sometimes people who are dating realize they are better off being best friends. Just because a relationship starts in one form, doesn't mean it can't evolve into something else." Wow, Shawn gets it. Why can't my mom get it too?

"Are you saying that you support this relationship?" my mom asked him.

"Are you telling me that you don't support Maya and Riley?" He turned the question back on her. Oh no. I just wrecked the Katie and Shawn ship didn't I?

"Okay stop. You both like each other, and you're fighting over me. I won't allow that," somehow I have become the mediator. "You each have the right to feel how you feel," I looked at Shawn. "You have right to support me." I looked at my mom "And you have the right to be disappointed."

"What?!" Shawn yelled. "No! You don't have a right to be disappointed in her for being happy with Riley."

"I'm not!" My mom exclaimed. Wait, what?

"You're not?" I asked her.

"I'm not disappointed in you, Maya. Your performance at the talent show was amazing. Your art and your music is beautiful. Your devotion to Riley is beautiful. You're so beautiful, Maya. I love you, baby girl. Please don't think I'm ashamed of you in any way." Tears started to well up in her eyes. I could feel a lump of my own tears forming in my throat. Could I have completely misunderstood everything?

"But I thought you didn't want me to date Riley. I thought you didn't want me to turn out to be a lesbian fine arts major," I said.

"A mother will always want what's best for her child." she started. "The reason I don't want that for you is because I don't want your life to be any harder than it already is. You have been through so much. Too much. And it's not fair. I want your life to get easier, not harder. Being an artist and making a living is really tough. Add being in a same sex relationship to that, and your life is going to be one hell of a struggle. I don't want you to struggle to get by. I don't want you to struggle against discrimination. I don't want you to struggle at all, Maya."

Well that certainly opened the floodgates. Both of us had tears running down our faces. Shawn handed each of us a tissue.

"You really want what's best for me?" I asked her.

"Always, baby girl," she answered.

"You and I both know, that Riley has always been the best thing that's ever happened to me. She brings out the best in me. I wouldn't be who I am without her," I explained.

"I know, Maya," she agreed.

"I love Riley, and I love art and if it's a struggle, then Riley and I will get through it together, because she will always be worth it to me," I declared.

"I know," she said again.

"Mom, it's okay if you don't support our relationship right away, because I understand your point of view now, but do you think can you try to see it from my point of view someday?"

She nodded. "Just give me time. I'm sure I'll get there someday," she said. She opened her arms, and I hugged her. Shawn wrapped his arms around both of us, joining in on the hug. Look at us, me, my mom and Shawn, acting like a family. I'm glad Riley convinced me to come home.


	17. Chapter 17

Maya's POV

Shawn and I sat on stools at the island that is our kitchen counter. He was typing on his laptop and nursing another cup of coffee. I sat across from him with my sketchbook.

"How's the writing going?" I asked him.

"It's going somewhere. How's the drawing going?" He asked me.

"Good," I said.

"Let me guess, it's another Riley?" He teased. Wait, how does he know about my sketchbook?

"You heard about that, huh?" I asked.

"About your sketchbook full of Riley? Yeah, your mom might have mentioned it," he answered.

"No, not this time. This time, it's you." I turned my sketchbook around and showed him my drawing of him writing at the counter. His face lit up. He took the sketchbook from my hands for a closer look.

"Wow, Maya. This is really good," he said, impressed. I smiled and he smiled back at me.

"Keep it." I said, as I walked around to his side of the counter. I tore the page out of the book and presented the drawing to him.

"I will. Thanks, Maya," he accepted the drawing, he was smiling ear to ear. "But while I'm here, is it okay if I hang it on the fridge?"

Now it was my face that lit up. "Sure."

I grew up watching Mr. Matthews hang Riley and Auggie's drawings on their fridge. But this has never happened to me before. I wrapped my arms around him and gave him a big hug. He hugged me back and put my drawing on the refrigerator with a magnet.

My phone rang. It was Riley. I answered the call.

"Peaches?"

"Hi, honey."

I grabbed my sketchbook and went to my room to take the call.

"How ya doin?" she asked me.

"I'm great, Riles. My mom and I talked. We're okay now."

"Yay!" she cheered through the phone.

"And Shawn is here."

"Really?"

"Yeah, he's staying here while he's in town writing a story. He actually helped my mom and I work things out," I explained.

"That's great!" Riley exclaimed.

"Yeah." I agreed

"Can I come over?" she asked.

"Sure, I bet Shawn would love to see you."

"I'll be there soon," she said.

Riley's POV

Maya welcomed me at the door with a hug. Shawn looked up from his computer.

"Uncle Shawn!" I greeted him.

He came over for a hug as well.

"Riley! So tell me, has Maya been treating you right?" He asked.

"Like a Princess," I assured him.

"Good."

"Does my dad know you're here?" I asked.

"Not yet, I was going to swing by later tonight, after I get some writing done."

"We will leave you to it, then," I said.

I took Maya by the hand and lead her into her room, and closed the door.

"I need to talk to you." I started.

"What is it, Riles?" she asked.

I looked into her eyes. "Maya, I feel terrible for what I said to you earlier."

She looked away. "It's okay, Riley," she said.

"It's not okay. I know your dad is a sensitive subject and I just threw it in your face like that. I'm really sorry," I apologized.

Maya wrapped her arms around me. "Riley, you didn't say anything wrong. You were right, and you said exactly what I needed to hear. If you didn't say what you said, I wouldn't have come home and I wouldn't be having this awesome day that I'm having." She leaned in and kissed me.

She continued, "I don't know how you do it Riles, but somehow you always know exactly what I need," she said, smiling. I smiled back at her. She must really be having a great day, because I don't think I've ever seen her eyes this blue. "Stay for dinner?" she asked me.

"You and me having dinner with Katie and Shawn?" I asked. She nodded, still smiling.

"Sounds like a double date," I said.

Maya's POV

Somebody pinch me. Is this real? I looked at my beautiful girlfriend next to me, and my mom and Shawn sitting across from us. Me, Riley, my mom and Shawn having a Sunday dinner together, like a family. Maybe I was wrong. Maybe hope isn't for suckers after all.

Shawn and my mom talked about their date. Riley gushed about the painting I made for her. My mom and Riley both told Shawn all about the talent show. Riley and I talked about our date at the park.

"Aww, Maya. Who knew you were such a sap?" Shawn teased.

"Oh, shut up." I threw a tater tot at him.

Riley looked at me. "You are, Peaches, and I love it."

I blushed. She leaned in and kissed me.

"Aww, you guys are so cute," Shawn commented.

Riley just kissed me, right in front of my parents, and it was totally okay. Wait, did I just subconsciously call Shawn my parent? I'm getting ahead of myself. This has been the best weekend I've ever had. I don't care if things are complicated, or if my life is going to be a struggle, because this day, this moment, makes it all worth it.

"So what's next for Maya and Riley? Are you two going to prom together?" Shawn asked.

Riley dropped her fork. Shawn, why did you have to remind us that eighth grade prom is coming up? Riley looked at me with a combination of shock and fear.

"I completely forgot about prom," she said.

I looked back at Shawn. "Yeah, we haven't talked about prom yet."

"But you are going right? It's like a right of passage," he said.

"Uncle Shawn," Riley started. He looked at her.

"My parents don't know about my relationship with Maya. They think we're still just the same best friends as we've always been," she explained.

"If you're worried about me telling your dad, I won't. But Riley, I've known both of your parents for a very long time. I really don't think you have any reason to be afraid of telling them the truth," Shawn said.

"I think they have some kind of expectation or some kind of idea in their heads about who they want me to be, and I don't want to let them down," Riley admitted.

"You're not, Riley," my mom chimed in. "You're not letting anyone down by being who you are."

"And then how will I explain it to Auggie?" Riley wondered.

I looked at her. "I actually think Auggie will be the easiest person to explain it to," I supposed.

"Really?" she looked at me.

I nodded. "Yeah, he already thinks we're gonna marry each other."


	18. Chapter 18

(Author's note: I'm sorry for the delay in updating. I just started graduate school. I'm working on getting my Master's of Arts in English, so I have a lot of writing to do for class, and not as much time as I would like to have for writing this story. I'm also sorry that this chapter is short. It's more of a transition to set up what happens in the next chapter. Even if my updates are less frequent, I am still going to finish this story and I am considering writing a continuation of it when the characters are older, either in high school or college or both. Thank you for reading!)

Riley's POV

In history class, we were learning about World War II and the internment of Japanese Americans.

"After Japan attacked Pearl Harbor," my father explained, "President Roosevelt authorized military commanders to decide where to exclude people of Japanese ancestry from. This resulted in all Japanese Americans being excluded from the entire West Coast. Those who didn't leave willingly, were forced out of their homes and relocated into internment camps."

Farkle stood up. "Japanese Americans who stayed behind tried to hide their ethnicity. They wore buttons that said 'I'm Chinese'. They had to pretend to be something they weren't to avoid being taken away," he explained.

"They were afraid of being persecuted for being themselves," I added. I could relate to that feeling.

"Yes, Riley. It certainly wasn't one of our nation's finest moments," My father said. Lucas suddenly spoke up. "What about the guy who was dating a Chinese girl, but she was really lying to him the whole time?" Maya turned around in her chair to face him. "What happens to him when he finds out that she's Japanese, and he loses her?" His eyes were staring daggers into her. Her eyes were full of regret. Then Lucas turned to me. "And maybe he used to like another seemingly Chinese girl, and she seemed to genuinely like him too, but she was really also hiding her true Japanese identity all along?"

"You couldn't tell?" I responded. "C'mon Lucas, I was a Harajuku girl for an entire week." I made an attempt at lightening the mood. Lucas looked at Maya and then back at me. He threw his arms up in the air and exclaimed, "I wasn't even in that episode!" Maya and I looked at each other and let out a collective "Oh".

"Yeah, he really wasn't," Maya remembered.

"I forgot you weren't here to see that." I said to Lucas.

"But did you forget the lesson, Riley?" my father asked me. I tried to remember but I was drawing a blank. I looked at Maya for help.

"Maya?" my father called on her.

Maya looked at me. "Being what other people want you to be is just a sword hanging over your head," she reminded me.

Huh. "I guess I can't pretend to be Chinese forever," I said.

Zay chimed in, "This is like a metaphor right? Either that or I have been seriously misinformed about your races."

Maya looked at Lucas. "We should talk about everything," she looked at me and then back at him. "All three of us, but not here."

I looked at Lucas and agreed with Maya. "Yeah, we can't keep talking in metaphors."

Lucas replied, "Why? You afraid somebody's gonna figure out what Japanese really means?"

The bell rang.


	19. Chapter 19

(Author's Note: Sorry this update took so long. I had to make sure I got this chapter right, because it reflects my theory on Maya's sexuality, supported by evidence from various episodes throughout the show. Enjoy!)

Riley's POV

The three of us climbed into my room through the fire escape. Maya and Lucas sat down in the bay window. I placed a chair in front of my door, under the doorknob to prevent any sudden parental ambushes. I turned to face Lucas.

"In class today, you made it sound like I've been secretly gay all along and when I went out with you, I was just using you as a cover or something. That's not true at all," I said.

"So what is true Riley? Did you ever even really like me?" Lucas asked. "Because you were pretty quick to put your feelings for me aside when you thought Maya liked me."

"Of course I really liked you, Lucas. Me having feelings for Maya now doesn't just invalidate any feelings I've ever had for a boy before," I explained.

"So you're not a lesbian?" Lucas asked.

"No." I affirmed.

"Are you sure?" Maya asked.

I looked at Maya. "Yes. My feelings for Lucas were just as genuine as my feelings for you are now."

"So you're bi?" Maya asked.

"Maybe I'm bi or maybe I'm pan. I'm honestly not even sure if I understand the difference. I'm 14, am I supposed to have this all figured out? Do you?" I asked her.

"Yeah, actually. I think I might." Maya answered.

Lucas turned to her. "Then please, enlighten me."

"I think I'm a lesbian," Maya said.

Wow. I can't believe what I'm hearing. She turned to Lucas.

"Lucas, I'm truly sorry. At the time I really thought that I might like you in a romantic way, but now I've realized, it wasn't you that I liked. It was never you. It was never even Josh."

Not even Josh? Did she just say she never really liked Josh?

She turned to me. "It's always been you, Riles."

Whoa. This runs a lot deeper for Maya than I thought.

"But we snuck out to go to that college party because you liked Josh," I said, trying to make sense of this.

"And you asked me if I could name one thing about Josh that I loved. Do you remember?" Maya said.

"Yeah. You said 'He's a part of your family, Riley. I love your family.' -Whoa." I suddenly started to understand. Maya nodded.

I walked over to the bay window and sat down between Maya and Lucas. I took Maya's hand in my own and looked into her eyes.

"Maya, how long have you felt this way?" I asked.

Maya's POV

This is a really scary thing for me to talk about. I know it's going to hurt Lucas and it will probably freak Riley out. But before all these feelings got in the way, Riley and Lucas were my friends first, and I should be able to be open and honest with my friends.

"I'm not sure exactly. I was terrified of my feelings. You know how I hate change. I didn't want our friendship to change. So instead of admitting to myself that I had feelings for you, I just projected them onto whatever guy was the next best thing." I explained.

I could tell by Riley's face that she was beginning to connect the dots. She said "You didn't really like Josh. He just reminded you of me."

I nodded.

"So you only thought you liked me because Riley and I are so much alike?" Lucas asked.

I nodded. "I didn't even realize I was doing it for a long time."

"When did you start to realize that it was me you really had feelings for?" Riley asked.

"Do you remember when your dad was teaching us about the horizon and how everyone used to think the world was flat?" I asked.

"Yeah, he made us all write down something we thought would be impossible, our own horizons." Riley remembered.

"You said you thought you would never be as good as your parents," I said.

"Farkle said he thought he could never be an athlete," Riley recalled.

"And I thought it would be impossible for me to coach Farkle into becoming an athlete," Lucas added.

He continued, "But Maya, you never told us what you wrote down."

"That's because I've never really said it to anyone, except recently to my mom," I admitted.

Riley looked at me. "So what is it Maya? What's your impossible thing?" she asked.

I suddenly felt like it was the night that I first kissed her. We were sitting in the bay window just like this and I could feel that same fear all over again. I looked back at Riley, and her sweet brown eyes were watching me intently, waiting patiently, and quietly encouraging me to reveal my deepest, most hidden truth. "I wrote down," I started. I took a deep breath. "Tell Riley…" I trailed off and let out a sigh.

Riley gently squeezed my hand. "Tell me what, Peaches?" she prodded.

I took another deep breath. Here goes. "Tell Riley I'm in love with her." I said it. I finally told her. I instantly felt lighter, as if a weight I had been carrying around on my chest suddenly just floated away like a balloon.

Riley smiled at me and took my face in her hands. She pulled me in for a kiss. But our kiss was interrupted.

"You knew back then that you were in love with her?!" Lucas exclaimed. I forgot he was here for a moment.

"Actually, I knew even before then," I explained.

I turned to Riley. "When we got the yearbooks and I became you, that's when I realized that Lucas was so much like you. Like two sunshiny people from the same sunshiny family. I thought up until that moment that I liked Lucas, but I kept it to myself because I knew you liked him. It was in that moment that I realized it might actually be you that I really liked. And then suddenly I couldn't be you anymore. It's like my mom says. When you have strong emotions for someone, it's like you're too close to see straight. It just hit me like a wave and I couldn't act like you anymore, so I took off my wig." I explained.

"That's why you said it's like he's my brother," Riley understood.

I nodded. "And it's why I kept insisting that you liked him as a brother. I guess I just wanted that to be the truth. I didn't want you to like him, because I wanted you to like me, because I wanted to have a chance with you, Riley," I confessed.

"Then why did you go out with me, Maya?!" Lucas was clearly aggravated.

"Because after your rodeo, Riley was so sure that I liked you. She pushed us together. And she knows me better than anyone, so I thought maybe she was right. I did think that I liked you before the yearbook, and it was certainly easier for me to accept liking you than to accept my feelings for her. I started thinking that I might have feelings for both of you. That's why when we were playing the couples game on New Year's Eve, and I drew the question 'Is it possible to love two people at the same time?' I ate the card," I explained.

"That's why you ate the card?" Riley asked.

"I thought you ate the card because you were afraid to hear my answer," Lucas said.

"No, Huckleberry. I was afraid of my own answer," I replied.

I continued, "That's why I was so confused. That's why I was such a mess. That's why I never seemed happy when I was with you."

"That's why you could hardly even talk to me," Lucas supposed.

I nodded. "Because my feelings for Riley were undeniable and unmatched by anything I have ever felt, or ever will feel for any guy, even a great guy like you, Lucas."

Lucas nodded, "Yeah, it kinda sounds like you are a lesbian."

"Yeah, I think so," I agreed. "I'm really sorry, Huckleberry. I hope you can forgive me someday."

"Of course, I forgive you Maya," he stood up and walked in front of me, opening his arms.

I stood up and gave him a hug. I'm really glad we could clear the air. The way he was looking at me earlier in class was unbearable. I didn't want there to be any hard feelings between us. "Friends?"

"Always," he said.

"Awww," Riley smiled. She joined in, wrapping her arms around both of us.


	20. Chapter 20

Maya's POV

"Hehe, that tickles!" Riley giggled as I painted a rainbow on her cheek.

"It's just like when we painted each other in art class," I replied.

"That was more like throwing paint all over each other," Riley corrected me.

So it was abstract expressionist painting," I argued.

"I have no idea what you're talking about, but I trust you because you're the artist," Riley responded.

"One of these days, I'm taking you to a museum," I vowed.

We were in the Starbucks near West 4th street, painting each other's faces with rainbows and waiting for the Pride parade to make its way downtown.

Riley looked out the window, "The parade is here!" Her smile made me smudge some of the paint on her cheek. "Honey, hold still, I'm almost done," I said, cleaning up the smudge. "Ok, all done."

She grabbed my hand and lead me outside to watch the parade. Marchers came over to us and adorned us with colorful Mardi gras bead necklaces. Riley was snapping pictures of the elaborate floats with the camera Shawn had given her.

There were so many people here today. People from all over the country, flocking to our neighborhood to celebrate Pride. It's pretty amazing.

After the parade we walked over to the street fair and looked at the colorful merchandise.

Riley tried on a sheer rainbow scarf. "Love it!" she declared.

"Nobody can rock the rainbow better than you, sunshine," I affirmed.

I leaned in and took a selfie of us with my phone. Riley looked at the screen. "Ooh, that's a good one!" she said.

I opened my Instagram app.

"Maya, what are you doing?" Riley questioned me.

"Posting our selfie on Instagram. Hashtag Pride," I answered.

Riley snatched my phone away.

"You can't." She said.

"Well now I can't because you stole my phone."

"I'll give it back, but first promise me you won't post it," Riley demanded.

I would never say it out loud to her, but I was growing tired of being her dirty little secret.

"Whatever you want," I replied, as always.

Riley's POV

I could see the disappointment on Maya's face. I can feel her patience wearing thin. Maybe I should let her post it. Maybe I'm overreacting. I handed Maya back her phone.

"Do you want me to delete it?" she asked.

"No, Peaches. Never." I answered.

Maya sighed. "I think I'm going to head home," she said. She started to walk away.

"Don't you want to check out the live music?" I asked.

She turned around. "Riles, I feel like a hypocrite. Look at these people. They're out and proud and happy being themselves. How am I supposed to celebrate pride if I'm still hiding in your closet?"

I know she's right. She has every right to feel this way. She has every right to walk away from me right now. But I can't stand to watch her walk away from me, knowing that she's ready to embrace who she is, and I'm holding her back.

"Post it, Maya." I said.

"What?"

"Our selfie. Put it on Instagram. Hashtag pride." I said.

"Are you sure, Riles?" Maya asked.

"Yes, Peaches. I'm sure." I affirmed.

Maya smiled. She opened the Instagram app in her phone and posted our pride selfie. She passed her phone to me to show me.

"Farkle already liked it." I noticed.

She took her phone back.

"Sarah just commented."

"What did she say?" I asked.

"So cute. Rainbow emoji. Smiley face," she said.

I smiled. Maya leaned in and kissed me.

"See honey? Nothing to be afraid of." she said.

I looked her in the eye. "I don't want to be afraid anymore, Maya." Maybe it was all the rainbows. Or maybe it was all the people celebrating pride. Or maybe it was the way Maya felt so comfortable here. I can't quite put my finger on it but something was inspiring me. Something was making me brave. I reached out and took Maya by the hand.

"Where are we going?" she asked.

"To my house," I said. "I'm ready."

Maya stopped walking and looked at me with a stunned expression.

"We're going to tell your parents? Like right now?!" she asked, incredulously.

I pulled her into me and kissed her. I held both of her hands in mine.

"Maya, you have been so patient with me, and so understanding, sometimes at your own expense. I really appreciate that," I told her.

"Of course, honey. You're worth it," she squeezed my hands. My heart melted a little.

"I think it's time." I said.

"Then I'll be right beside you."


	21. Chapter 21

Riley's POV

Sometimes life surprises you. When I think about how different things might be if Maya never climbed into my bay window the first time, I can't imagine who I would be without her.

If she never had the courage to kiss me and tell me how she really felt, would I have ever come to realize my feelings for her on my own? I'm not sure. All I know, is that we're here, now, together. And it's going to change everything. If I want my rainbow, I can't hide from the storm anymore.

Maya and I walked into my house, using the front door this time instead of my window. I looked at my family sitting around the kitchen table, Dad grading papers, Mom looking over depositions, and Auggie coloring with crayons. They looked up at us as we walked in, our faces still painted with rainbows.

"Hi girls," My dad smiled. "You're looking colorful today," he said.

"Did you girls go to Pride?" My mom asked.

Maya and I exchanged nervous glances. We nodded.

"Mom, Dad, Auggie," I started, each one giving me their attention as I called for it, "There's something I need to tell you."

My parents looked at each other, put their papers down and looked back at me.

I looked at Maya. Her eyes met mine with hope and courage and love. The way she looks at me makes me feel like there's nothing I can't do.

I turned back to face my parents. "Maya and I are dating."

"Yeah, we knew Maya was going out with Lucas, are you going out with someone too, Riley?" My mom replied.

"Oh no she's not!" My dad jumped up. He walked toward us. "Who is he? Is it Charlie Gardner?"

"Oh boy," Maya muttered.

"No, Dad." I answered.

"Well is it Zay?" He questioned.

"No, Dad."

"Well it can't be Farkle," he said.

"Why not?" My mother asked him.

He turned to face her. "Because no offspring of Topanga is ever dating a Minkus." My mom rolled her eyes at him. She got up walked over to join us.

"Riley, you can date whoever you want. Don't listen to him," she said.

I smiled at her. "I'm glad you feel that way, Mom."

"I don't!" My father interjected.

Auggie put down his crayons and walked over to us. He looked up at Maya and I, and then turned to our parents.

"She's not dating Farkle. You're not listening." He turned to me. "Please say it again, Riley. They didn't get it the first time."

I smiled at him. It figures Auggie would be the only one to understand.

"Mom, Dad. Maya and I are dating."

My mothers eyes widened. She gets it now. "Oh" she responded. My father is still a dope. "Who are you dating Riley?" He asked.

"Mr. Matthews," Maya chimed in.

"I'm not dating Lucas. I broke up with him."

"Well then who are you dating, Maya?"

Maya put her arm around me.

"Riley and I are dating." She echoed my earlier statement. "Each other." I added to spell it out for him.

He looked at my mother, they both looked like they were in shock. "Auggie, honey, please go to your room," my mom requested. Auggie shook his head "No way. I'm staying."

"I'm gonna need to sit down," my father said, taking a seat on the couch.

"How long has this been going on?" My mother asked.

"A couple of weeks." I answered honestly.

My father stood up abruptly. "A couple of weeks?!" He exclaimed. He looked at Maya

"Go home, Maya."

"Dad!" I argued.

"Mr. Matthews I-" he cut Maya off.

"Go home," he repeated.

Maya started to pull back her arm, but I held it in place around me.

"If she goes, I go." I stated emphatically.

"Okay, everyone just calm down," my mom reasoned.

"Calm down?" My father scoffed. "Maya, you were sleeping over all the time. In my daughter's room. In her bed-"

"Dad!" I interrupted him. "We weren't doing anything!"

He ignored me and continued to chastise Maya. "If Riley were dating someone do you think I would let that someone sleep in her bed with her night after night?"

"No, sir." Maya responded.

"Then why did you?" He asked.

"Dad, she had nowhere else to go," I answered for her.

"Huh?" he said.

"When I told my mom about Riley and I, she didn't take it well at first and we had an argument." Maya explained. "I was staying over here to avoid my mom."

"Katy knew about this?!" My dad cried out in disbelief.

Maya nodded. "So does Shawn. He was actually the first person I told."

"I can't believe Shawn didn't tell me." My dad said.

"Well, Cory, it looks like we're the last to know," my mom said.

"Did you resolve things with your mother?" my dad asked Maya.

"Yes, Riley and Shawn helped us work things out," Maya answered.

"Great! So then you can go home, Maya." He persisted.

"Dad!"

"It's ok Riles, I'll just see you tomorrow," Maya relented.

"No!" I held her close to me. "I already told you. If she's leaving, then I am too."

"Nobody is leaving," my mom decided.

"I trusted you Maya, and you took advantage of that." he said.

"Mr. Matthews, I didn't mean to betray your trust. I wanted to tell you sooner, and so did my mom actually, but I wouldn't let her," Maya explained.

"Dad, if you want to get mad at someone, get mad at me. I'm the reason we kept this from you for as long as we did. I was scared," I said.

"Maya, go home." He insisted. "Riley, go to your room. You're grounded."

"You can't ground me for being queer!" I argued.

"I'm not grounding you for being queer. I'm grounding you for lying to me and sneaking around behind my back," he defended his decision.

"Cory," My mom stopped him. "She lied because she was afraid of coming out to us. That's understandable. You can't ground her for that."

"Fine," he threw his hands up in defeat. He walked toward the door and grabbed his jacket.

"Dad, where are you going?" I asked.

"Me? Oh I'm just gonna go have a little chat with my buddy Shawn." He said. He pointed his finger at Maya. "From now on, if you're staying the night, you sleep on the couch, not in her bed," he demanded.

"Yes, sir," she replied, but he had already left, letting the door slam behind him.

My mom walked over and put her arms around both of us.

"Your dad just doesn't like to be the last to know," she said.

"I can see that," I said.

"He hates me," Maya said, sadly.

"No, he's just upset. He'll get over it," my mom reassured her.


	22. Chapter 22

Maya's POV

I pulled away from Riley and headed towards the door.

"Maya?" Riley called after me.

"I have to do something. This is my fault." I said.

I headed out the door after Mr. Matthews. Riley caught up to me.

"Maya, this is not your fault. You wanted to tell him that day in my room after the Stonewall lesson," Riley said. "But you didn't because I was crying. You were protecting me. And now you're taking all the heat for it. It's not fair."

"Riles, it's okay. Let him be mad at me. I'd rather he take it out on me than you. And I'm not about to let him take it out on Shawn either."

"What are you going to do?" Riley asked.

"I don't know, but I'm not going to let your dad and Shawn fight because of me." I replied.

I knew Shawn would probably be at Topanga's because my mom was there working. I hurried toward the bakery.

Too late. I walked in and Mr. Matthews was already having what looked like a confrontation with Shawn. My mom seemed to be trying to intervene.

"You were the first adult to know about this. How could you not tell me?" Mr. Matthews demanded an answer.

"Cory, it wasn't my place." Shawn answered.

"You're my best friend Shawn! How is it not your place?" Mr. Matthews countered.

"I didn't even tell Katy, and I'm dating her!" Shawn defended himself.

My mom explained, "I found some of Maya's drawings of Riley and I had my suspicions so I asked her about them. That's when she told me, and we had an argument."

"So you knew how your daughter felt about my daughter, and you let her sleepover in my daughter's room?" He questioned my mother.

"She didn't let me. I just left." I interrupted.

My mother looked at me and continued, "I said something that hurt Maya's feelings, and she walked out. I don't know if I ever apologized for that, baby girl. But I am sorry that I hurt you in that moment."

I walked over and gave my mom a hug. "It's okay, mom" I said. She smiled.

"You know, Katy, as a parent, I really would have appreciated some kind of a heads up. Your daughter was staying in my house, for goodness sake." Mr. Matthews said.

"I understand that, Cory, but can you try to understand the situation I was in?" My mom replied.

Shawn joined in. "Maya trusted me with something very personal. And even after she told Katy as well, we couldn't possibly talk to you about it without outing your daughter to you, and that wouldn't be right."

Riley walked over to her dad. "Yeah, Dad. You're getting mad at all the wrong people. They were all keeping my secret because I asked them not to tell you. Because I wasn't ready." Mr. Matthews seemed to be avoiding making eye contact with Riley.

"Dad, please look at me," Rliey pleaded.

Mr. Matthews reluctantly met Riley's eyes with his own. He looked disappointed.

"Cory," my mother started. "Don't make the same mistake I did. Don't say something you can't take back," she advised.

He seemed to be choosing his next words carefully. "I asked you both if there was anything you wanted to tell me." He looked at both Riley and me.

"I know Dad, but I was still figuring things out. I wasn't ready to explain my feelings to anyone yet, even if Maya was." Riley answered.

He sighed and shook his head. "Well, Riley, right now, I'm not ready to explain my feelings to you either." He looked away.

Riley nodded. She looked slighted by his remark. "I guess I deserve that," she said.

"Maya, go home tonight," he affirmed.

"Okay." I agreed.

"But Dad!-" Riley started but he held up his hand and cut her off.

"And please take Riley with you." Mr. Matthews said.

Wait. What did he just say?

"Cory-" Shawn started. But Mr. Matthews already turned to leave.

"Dad?" Riley called after him as he walked out the door.

Riley stood frozen in place, staring at the door. She looked like she was in shock. Shawn put his hand on her shoulder. "You know what? I'm gonna go talk to him, and I'll get your mom to talk to him too." He looked back at my mom and she nodded with approval. Shawn hurried out the door. Riley remained motionless.

I walked over to Riley and stood between her and the door. I took her face in my hands.

"Honey?" I attempted to bring her back.

She finally broke her solemn stare and looked down at me.

"Maya," she said. Her eyes were filling with tears.

"I'm here, sweetie." I answered.

"What just happened?" She asked. A tear cascaded down her cheek and landed on my hand. I gently wiped it way with my thumb. I didn't know how to answer her.

"Did he just kick me out?" She asked.

I wish I could tell her otherwise. I wish I could make this all okay somehow.

"Remember a half hour ago when I was just grounded? Could I just go back to being grounded?"

I dropped my hands from her face and wrapped my arms around her.

"Just give him a few days. I'm sure you guys will work everything out. He probably just feels overwhelmed right now."

She nodded. She couldn't hold back the tears anymore. She buried her face in my neck and sobbed. I held her close and stroked her hair. "Riles, I got you. It's gonna be okay."

"I hope so," She said as she lifted her head and wiped her tears away. I looked at her and waited for her eyes to find mine. When our eyes met, I leaned in and kissed her softly. I took her by the hand and headed out of the bakery. I looked back at my mom. She waved and went back to work.

"Do you want to take the train?" I asked Riley. She shook her head. "Let's walk. I need to clear my head anyway," she said. We walked through the village hand in hand. Riley took a deep breath and let out a sigh.

"It's a good thing we didn't both tell our parents at the same time," Riley commented.

"Yeah, we'd be sleeping on the subway tonight if we did," I said.

"How am I supposed to face him in class tomorrow?" Riley worried.

"The same way you always do. And I'll be right there next to you." I squeezed her hand. She smiled.


	23. Chapter 23

(Author's Note: I rated this story "teen" but this chapter might test the boundaries of that. If anyone finds this chapter too sexy or inappropriate for a teen rated story, then I apologize in advance. This is my first fan fiction. I'm still learning the rules. Thanks for reading though! And special thanks to everyone who has been writing reviews!)

Maya's POV

When we got back to my house, we were alone. My mom was still closing up the bakery and Shawn must have still been out trying to talk to Mr. Matthews.

We sat down on my bed, both tired from an emotionally exhausting day.

I looked at Riley and laughed.

"Are we laughing? I'll laugh. I'll laugh anytime. What are we laughing at?" She smiled.

"This situation, us being here alone right now, in my bed," I said.

She laughed too as as she understood what I meant.

"It is kind of ironic," I remarked.

"It's kind of perfect." Her expression changed. Now her smile hinted at mischief.

She grabbed my shirt collar, pulling me in for an intense kiss. She planted urgent kisses down my neck. She gently pushed my shoulders down until my back hit the bed and she straddled me.

"Riley,"

"Yes, Peaches?"

"What are you doing, honey?"

"Last time we were alone in your room, you wouldn't let me give you a hickey because of the talent show. And you said after the talent show I could do whatever I want with you because you're mine. Remember?"

Uh oh. I really did say that, didn't I?

"Yes, honey. I remember. What are you going to do?"

"Ssshh." She placed her index finger on my lips to quiet my questioning. "You'll see, Peaches."

She started kissing my neck again and pulled off my unbuttoned plaid shirt revealing my t-shirt underneath. She sucked on my neck.

I sat up and gently pushed her away. She leaned back.

"Was I hurting you?" Riley asked.

"No, honey, I just don't want us to get so caught up in the moment that we can't stop."

"Why should we stop?" Riley kissed me deeply. We made out passionately. I'm not even sure for how long. I love kissing her. Why did I want this to stop again?

She kissed her way down my neck again. She wanted to go further but my crew neck t-shirt was in her way.

"This would be easier if you would wear v-necks" she complained. She pulled my shirt off over my head.

Wait, why am I the only one shedding clothes? I pulled off her blazer and unbuttoned the three buttons of her floral print henley shirt. I kissed my way down her neck, biting gently, the same way she had kissed mine and continued to her collar bone. She gasped, and pushed me back down on the bed, leaving a trail of urgent kisses down my chest. I gasped, myself. She stopped and looked at me for a moment, like she was further undressing me with her eyes. I have to stop this now before we go too far.

"Oh Riley, you are not making this easy."

"Making what easy?" She asked.

"Stopping you," I panted as I sat back up.

"Why would you want to stop me, Peaches?" she asked seductively.

"Because, you're hurt and vulnerable right now and I don't want to take advantage of you," I said.

"Maya, I'm a big girl. And I initiated this," she replied.

"I wouldn't feel right about it," I said.

She ran her fingers up and down my back. I shuddered.

"Ah! Stop! It's like spiders poking at me!" I objected.

"But that's my spider move!" she said, doing it again. I grabbed my pillow and hit her with it.

"Maya, he thinks we were hooking up and he's punishing us for it," she started. She leaned in and whispered in my ear. "If we have to do the time shouldn't we at least get to enjoy the crime?"

Oh. My. God.

"Wow that's like the hottest thing you've ever said to me." I sighed. "It also sounds nothing like you. It actually sounds like something I would think of." I said.

"I will never have a better worst influence than you," she teased.

I shook my head. "Riley we have to stop."

"Don't you want me?" She asked. Oh no. She must think I'm rejecting her.

"Of course I want you, honey, but not like this," I assured her.

"But we're here, alone together," she argued.

I slid out from under her and got off the bed. I picked up my t-shirt from the floor and put it back on.

"Maya?" she beckoned.

I returned to the bed and sat down next to her. I took her hand in mine.

"Riles, I think you want this to happen right now for all the wrong reasons." I looked into her eyes.

"It's our first time. It's your first time. It's my first time. It's our first time as a couple. It's a big deal."

"I know," she nodded.

I held both of her hands in mine.

"Riley, if you were to wake up tomorrow morning and have regrets about this, it would break my heart," I admitted.

"I never want to break your heart," she said sincerely. "You're right. We should wait," she agreed.

At that moment I heard the front door open and close.

"Maya? Riley?"

Shawn had returned home. It's a good thing we decided to wait.

Riley's POV

Maya got up from the bed, but I stopped her. "Wait, your hair," I said, as I fixed her messy hair that I was responsible for.

She smirked. "Messed up my hair, did ya?"

I smiled. "Just a little bit."

Maya refastened the buttons of my shirt as I finished fixing her hair. She tugged at my shirt, pulling me in for one more kiss. The taste of her lips validates her namesake. "Mmm, Peaches."

"Yes, honey?"

Oops. Did I say that out loud?

"Nothing," I said.

Shawn knocked on the door.

"Come in," Maya answered.

Shawn entered with a duffel bag in hand that I recognized, and my back pack slung over his shoulder.

"I tried to talk to him. I'm sure your mom is still trying," he said. "But all he wanted to do was pack up a bag of your clothes for me to bring to you." He looked defeated.

"Thanks for trying, Uncle Shawn," I said, taking the duffel bag and my back pack from him. My dad really filled up this duffel bag. He must not want me around for awhile.

"Just wait it out. I know he'll come around," Shawn said.

"I guess I don't really have a choice," I said. Maya put her arm around me.

Maya looked at me, "Thank you, Riley."

"For what?" I asked.

"For being so brave today," she said.

"If I had been braver sooner, I wouldn't be in this mess with my dad right now," I replied.

She hugged me.

I heard the front door open, it must be Maya's mom. Katy walked into Maya's room. She looked at Shawn's face and then at the duffel bag at my feet and shook her head.

"You know," she started, "If Cory was so mad about you girls sleeping in the same bed, he probably shouldn't have banished you to our tiny, modestly furnished apartment. There really is nowhere else for you to sleep but Maya's bed," she pointed out.

"I can sleep on the floor," Maya offered.

"Don't be ridiculous," I countered.

"Girls," Katy interrupted. "You can both sleep in the bed. You've been doing it for years. Can I trust that you will behave responsibly?"

Maya and I looked at each other and nodded.

"We'll be on our best behavior, Mom," Maya assured her.

"Okay, Goodnight girls," Katy and Shawn said goodnight and went to their room.

I started searching through my duffel bag for pajamas, but I think my Dad forgot to pack any. I turned around to ask Maya if I could borrow some, but realized she was changing herself. I know I shouldn't peek but I couldn't look away. Even though her back was facing me, I could see her reflection in the mirror. I caught a glimpse of her breasts as she put her pajama shirt on. Wow. I mean, I knew she was beautiful but, wow. Suddenly the thought of sleeping next to her without letting my hands wander seemed like torture. Calm, down Riley. It's not gonna happen tonight.

Maya turned around. "You ready for bed?"

"Can I borrow something to sleep in?" I asked.

"How about my arms?" she teased.

"Don't tease me! My self control is at an all time low right now," I said.

Maya giggled. She tossed me a nightgown. I turned around and changed into it.

Maya turned off the light. We climbed into bed. Maya wrapped her arms around me. I looked at her across the pillow.

"Nothing will ever be the same," I said.

"Are you scared?" she asked.

"No, I got you," I smiled.

"Now that everyone knows about us, I guess there's only one thing left to do," she said.

"What's that?' I asked.

"Riley Matthews," she started. Oh, are we using full names? This must be important.

"Yes, Maya Penelope Hart?" I replied.

"Will you go to prom with me?" Maya asked.

I smiled. "I thought you'd never ask."


	24. Chapter 24

(Authors Note: I thought I was going to finish this story in 25 chapters but it looks like its going to take more chapters than I expected. Sabrina Carpenter shared a quote on her social media accounts that inspired me while writing this chapter. If you follow her, you'll recognize it. Thanks for reading and thanks for all the feedback! Enjoy :-)

Riley's POV

The next day, we walked into my dad's classroom and took our seats. He hadn't arrived yet. When the late bell rang, I started to think he wasn't coming.

"Where's Mr. Matthews?" Farkle asked.

I turned around. "I don't know."

"Didn't you see him at home?" Lucas asked.

I looked at Maya. "We told him everything last night, and he kind of kicked me out."

"What?!" Farkle was shocked.

"She stayed at my house last night," Maya added.

"That doesn't sound like Mr. Matthews." Lucas said.

"You mean it doesn't sound like our teacher," I said.

"It doesn't sound like your father either," Maya said.

"It does seem surprisingly out of character," Farkle said.

"Well he's not here. So not only does he not want to be my father, I guess he doesn't want to be my teacher either," I supposed.

"What exactly did you tell him that made him kick you out?" Zay questioned.

Maya and I looked at Lucas. "What? I wasn't going to tell anyone your secret. Not even Zay," he said.

I looked at Zay, "Maya and I are together."

He looked at Maya and then back at me. "I know. You're always together. You two are never not together. You're inseparable. Don't you think that's a little codependent?" He said.

I glared at him.

Maya explained, "No, she means we're a couple, Zay. We're dating."

"Oooooh." He reacted. "Wow, that explains a lot," he replied. Maya nodded.

A substitute teacher entered the classroom.

"Hello, class. I'm Mr. Katz. I'll be your sub today," he said.

"Where's Mr. Matthews?" Maya asked Mr. Katz.

"Mr. Matthews is out sick today," Mr. Katz responded.

Maya turned to me. "Maybe us being together makes him sick, literally."

For that, I had no answer. Maybe she's right. I wish I knew what my father was feeling.

Maya's POV

We sat down at our desks for English class. Ms. Burgess, or Harper as she preferred to be called, was teaching us the _The Picture of Dorian Gray_ by Oscar Wilde. She addressed the class, holding up the book: "Has everyone finished reading?" The class nodded.

"What have we learned from this book?" She asked.

Farkle stood up enthusiastically, "Farkle goes first! Farkle always goes first!"

"Alright, Farkle, what did you learn?" She asked.

"It's a criticism on the superficial nature of society. They valued physical beauty over ethics."

"Very good, Farkle. Did anyone learn anything different?" The class was silent.

"There are no right or wrong answers. Oscar Wilde believed art didn't have any obligation to teach us anything, that it's beauty alone was enough to justify its existence."

"So Oscar Wilde was just as superficial as the society he depicted?" Farkle asked.

"You call him superficial. He called himself an aestheticist," Harper answered.

"So the lesson is that there is no lesson?" Lucas asked.

"That depends on your own critical thinking and what take away from the novel," she replied.

She posed another question. "Does anyone know anything else about the author, Oscar Wilde?"

"He was in love with a man and he was sentenced to two years of hard labor for being homosexual," Farkle said.

"What?!" Riley exclaimed.

"It's unfortunate, but it's true," Harper confirmed.

"Oh my Gosh!" I exclaimed. I suddenly had a revelation. "Basil!"

"Did you learn something from this character?" Harper asked me.

"He was gay, right? He was in love with Dorian," I reasoned.

"That can be debated, but yes, some critics recognize Basil as a homosexual character," Harper confirmed. "And that is part of the reason this book was considered scandalous in its time."

"I'm Basil!" I declared.

"You can identify with this character?" Harper asked.

I looked at Riley. "A gay artist who falls in love with his friend who is the subject of his painting. Yep. That's me," I affirmed.

Harper smiled. She turned around and started writing on the board. Riley suddenly looked alarmed. "Oh no, does that make me Dorian?" she asked me.

"Oh honey, you wouldn't even know how to be a Dorian if you tried," I assured her.

"I promise I won't kill you in a fit of rage like Dorian killed Basil," she promised sincerely.

"Aww, thanks Pumpkin," I smiled.

Harper finished writing on the board and turned around again. "Maya, please read what's on the board."

It was a quote from F. Scott Fitzgerald.

I read it aloud: "That is part of the beauty of all literature. You discover your longings are universal longings, that you're not lonely and isolated from anyone. You belong." I smiled at the words I had just spoken.

"I'm glad you found a character you can relate to, Maya," she said. "Can anyone guess why I assigned this book in June?"

"Because Oscar Wilde was gay, and June is Pride month?" Riley guessed.

"Good job. I see you've been paying attention in Mr. Matthews' class," Harper remarked.

"Do you guys make your lesson plans together?" Lucas asked.

"Do you and your friends study together?" Harper asked.

"Yeah," Lucas answered.

"So why shouldn't we?" Harper responded. "We compare notes. We collaborate from time to time. You will find that literature and history have much in common," she said.

Riley's POV

Later that evening we were doing our homework at the kitchen table when there was a knock on the door. Maya opened it, and my mother walked in.

"Mom!" I quickly rushed over and hugged her.

"How's my girl?" she asked.

"I'm doing the best I can."

She turned towards Maya and opened her arms. "And how's my other girl?"

Maya smiled and hugged her. "You know me. I'm always okay."

My mom put one arm around each of us.

"It's really hard being stuck in the middle of a conflict between two of the people you love most. But he's coming around. I can tell," she said.

"Was he really sick today?" Maya asked.

"No, he just needed a day," my mom answered. She looked at both of us.

"Are you hungry? Should I make you something to eat while I'm here?" My mom is such a mom. She's the best.

"No it's okay, mom. Uncle Shawn just went out to get us a pizza," I answered.

"Okay, good. Well, I have to go start dinner for your dad and Auggie. I just wanted to stop by on my way home and check on you. I miss you girls." She pulled us in for a squeeze.

"I miss you too, Mom," I said.

"Thanks for coming by, Topanga," Maya said.

"Call me if you need anything," she said.

We nodded and waved as she headed out the door. My eyes started to tear up a bit. Maya noticed.

"Riles, are you okay?" She asked.

I sniffled, wiped my eyes and nodded.

"Look, maybe this has gone too far," she said.

"What are you talking about?" I asked, holding back my tears.

"He kept telling me to leave and you kept saying that if I left you would leave too, and now here we are. You should've just let me go, Riley," Maya said.

"You want me to let you go?" I can't believe I'm hearing this.

"Maybe you should. I'm not good for you anymore," she said.

Hmm, where have I heard that before?

"Only I decide that. I didn't let you push me out of that subway car the first week of 7th grade and I'm not letting you push me away now."

"I'm not worth it," Maya said.

"You are. I told him back then that you were what I believed was worth fighting for. And I meant it. I will always fight for you," I said.

"At what cost, Riley?!" Maya argued.

"At any cost. We've come so far, Maya. We're so close to overcoming everything we were so afraid of. Please, don't give up on me now."

"Riley, I only want what's best for you," Maya explained.

"How could losing you possibly be what's best for me?" I asked.

Maya walked toward the door and opened it. "I don't want you to have to choose between me and your dad."

I walked over to her.

"Do you really think I'm going to walk out that door?" I took the door from her and closed it.

"You promised me, Maya. When you came back after you ran away, I told you never again, Maya Hart. And you said you would always be right here. You're not allowed to run again."

She sighed. "I'm not. Riley, this is hurting you. I never meant for our relationship to hurt you," she said.

"Sure, it's complicated," I admitted. "But it's worth it."

Maya shook her head. "It's not. You're sacrificing too much to be with me right now."

I took both of her hands in mine and looked into her eyes.

"I'm in love with you, Maya."

Her expression changed.

"You've never said that to me before," she said.

"You know better than anyone that it's a scary thing to admit. But it's the truth." I said sincerely.

I couldn't tell which one of us initiated it, but we both leaned in as if we were being pulled toward each other like magnets, and shared a deeply impassioned kiss.

As our lips parted, I said "There was a time when my father was the only one who knew he and my mother would always be together, even when everyone else said that they wouldn't. He knew. And so do I. Love is worth fighting for. My dad is the one who taught me that, and that's how I know he will come around, eventually."

Maya looked at me with an enamored gaze. "I love you so much," she said.

"I love you too," I said. I wrapped my arms around her and pulled her in for an embrace. I held her close, and probably hugged her a little too tightly, but my arms needed to show her that they're not letting her go.

"It's you and me forever," I whispered in her ear.


	25. Chapter 25

(Author's note: Sorry to have kept you waiting for this chapter. I got way too caught up is season 3 GMW spoliers. I'm planning to go to a live taping in July if I can get tickets. Feel free to follow me on instagram dorene_ahmad and as always thank you for reading my story. Reviews/feedback greatly appreciated!)

Riley's POV

We sat at our desks in history class waiting to see if my father would be teaching today. The late bell rang. Still no teacher.

"What if he never comes back?" Maya asked.

"He has to come back sooner or later, it's his job," I explained.

"I hope it's sooner," Zay said. "Mr. Katz tries, but he's no Mr. Matthews."

"It's June. There aren't that many days left in the school year," Lucas said. "What if he really doesn't make it back?"

"He's not even really sick," I answered.

"He's still gonna use up all his sick leave and avoid us until we graduate," Maya said.

"No!" Farkle exclaimed. "I'm never going to know what happened in Belgium in 1831 and it's all your fault!" He glared at me.

"Settle down Farkle, we'll get to Belgium 1831." My dad said as he entered the room. "Sorry I'm a little late, I was making photocopies and had a paper jam."

Farkle smiled. "Welcome back, Hambone."

"Thanks, Farkle. I'm sorry I missed class yesterday. It turns out I was unprepared. I needed a little more time to put together this lesson."

"What do you have for us today, Mr. Matthews?" Lucas asked.

"Harper told me she shared a quote with you yesterday." He said as he turned around and wrote the F. Scott Fitzgerald quote on the board.

"You can't teach English!" Farkle called out.

"You're right. But I think you'll see that it's just as applicable to history as it is to literature," my father said.

"Who can tell me what historiography is?" He asked the class.

Zay answered, "It's what history and geography called themselves when they started dating."

The class chuckled at his joke. Lucas turned around to give him a fist bump.

"Heh. Good one," Lucas said.

My father looked perplexed. "Uh, no. Does anybody else want to take a guess?" Haley in the back of the room raised her hand.

"Is it sort of like a biography about history?" she guessed.

"You're on the right track, Haley," my dad answered.

"Historiography is the word used to describe writing about history," he explained. He picked up our textbook from his desk and held it up. "Historiographers write our textbooks. As you can imagine it's not easy fitting centuries of history into a textbook. Sometimes things get overlooked or left out. Who remembers our lesson about Alexander Hamilton? What did we learn about him?"

"He was the first Secretary of the Treasury," said Farkle.

"He's on the ten dollar bill," Maya said.

"He had a rivalry with Aaron Burr over a senate seat," Zay added.

"Burr challenged Hamilton to a duel," Haley said.

"Hamilton didn't believe the duel was right so he fired a shot into the air," Lucas added.

"Burr thought Hamilton fired at him, so he shot Hamilton, killing him," Farkle concluded.

"That's all correct," my father said. "That was all in this textbook, wasn't it?"

The class nodded. "Today we're gonna learn that there's a little more to Hamilton's story than what's in our textbooks." My father passed out the handouts he had photocopied.

"These are Hamilton's letters written to John Laurens. Who was John Laurens?"

"He's the guy that makes polo shirts," Zay answered.

I turned around. "That's Ralph Lauren."

"Oooohhh. My bad. As you can see, I'm not big on polo shirts." He gestured towards his plaid button down worn open over his grey henley.

"Farkle, help." My father said.

Farkle explained, "John Laurens was a lieutenant colonel who fought along side Hamilton and Washington in the Revolutionary War."

"John Laurens and Alexander Hamilton were best friends," my father looked at me, and then at Maya as he said that.

"Ms. Hart, please read aloud from the handout, the first paragraph." He called on Maya. Maya glanced at me nervously and then began reading from the paper.

"Cold in my professions, warm in my friendships, I wish, my Dear Laurens, it might be in my power, by action rather than words to convince you that I love you," Maya paused. Her eyebrows raised in astonishment at the words on the page. She looked up at my father. He nodded at the paper, urging her to continue.

"I shall only tell you that 'til you bade us Adieu, I hardly knew the value you had taught my heart to set upon you. Indeed, my friend, it was not well done. You know the opinion I entertain of mankind, and how much it is my desire to preserve myself free from particular attachments, and to keep my happiness independent of the caprice of others. You should not have taken advantage of my sensibility to steal into my affections without my consent," she finished the passage.

"Ms. Matthews, please read the next paragraph," My father called on me this time. I picked up where Maya left off in Hamilton's letter.

"But as you have done it, and as we are generally indulgent to those we love, I shall not scruple to pardon the fraud you have committed, on condition that for my sake, if not for your own, you will always continue to merit the partiality, which you have artfully instilled into me," I read aloud.

"So what do you make of this letter Hamilton wrote to Laurens?" My father asked the class.

"Well, I don't want spread any rumors or anything, but it sure does sound like he was in love with the guy," Zay speculated.

"But wasn't Hamilton married?" Farkle asked.

"He was. In fact, they both were. And Hamilton wrote letters to his wife too," My dad answered.

"So he loved them both?" Lucas asked.

"Whoa. Alexander Hamilton was bisexual?!" I exclaimed. Was that even really a thing back then?

"It's hard to say for sure. Hamilton's relatives crossed out sections of his letters, which insinuates that some of the things he wrote to Laurens were controversial, and perhaps scandalous at the time," my father explained.

"What about Laurens?" Maya asked. "Didn't he write back to Hamilton?"

"Many of Laurens' letters were destroyed by his relatives as well," my dad answered.

"Are you saying that it's likely that one of our nation's founding fathers was bisexual, like me?" I asked, catching on to the fact that this lesson, just like most of his lessons, was actually about our lives.

He turned around and erased the word "literature" from the quote on the board. He picked up the chalk and replaced what he erased with the word "history".

"Riley, please read the new version of the quote on the board," he said. I read the quote aloud.

"That is part of the beauty of all history. You discover your longings are universal longings, that you're not lonely and isolated from anyone. You belong," I smiled and looked over at Maya. She was already smiling back at me.

"Whatever it is that you're going through in life, I can guarantee you, whether it made it into our history books or not, people have been dealing with the same feelings and the same issues for centuries," My father said. He continued, "You think you're the first person to feel this way? You think you're the only one going through something? You're not. So please, class, don't ever feel like you're all alone. You are not alone." He looked at Maya, and then he looked at me. "You belong," he said to me.

The bell rang. Farkle, Lucas and Zay hurried out the door with the rest of our classmates. As Maya and I got up to leave too, my father approached our desks.

"Will you girls please come over for dinner tonight?" I couldn't contain the huge grin that immediately spread across my face. I looked at Maya. There was a sparkle of hope in her eyes.

"Really, Dad? You want both of us there?" I asked him. He looked at Maya and nodded.

"I wouldn't have it any other way," he said.

"We'll be there, Sir," Maya promised.


	26. Chapter 26

Riley's POV

Maya and I stood outside my front door. I miss it. I miss my room. I miss my bay window. I miss my friends climbing into my bay window. I miss Auggie. I miss cold spaghetti at midnight. I miss opening my closet door and seeing Maya's painting every time I pick out clothes.

Oh my gosh!

My father must have seen the painting when he packed my duffel bag. I can just hear him now, thinking "great, not only did she sleep with my daughter in her bed, but she painted how she looks when she wakes up. Fantastic." Another reminder of our deception.

I thought about bringing my duffel bag but Maya had warned me not to get my hopes up. "A dinner is just dinner. One step at a time," she said. I know she's right, I shouldn't be presumptuous. My father was extending an olive branch, and an olive branch would certainly snap under the weight of my duffel bag.

Maya took a deep breath. "Riles? You ready?"

I looked at her and reached out for her hand. She completed my hand with her own.

"No matter how this dinner goes, we're in this together, right?" I asked her.

Her eyes were giving me that "you already know" look. "Always," she said.

Maya's POV

We all sat and ate quietly. Topanga made mashed potatoes tonight. Smart move. Everyone knows how much Cory Matthews loves his mashed potatoes. They were bound to keep him in a good mood. Auggie broke the long, uninterrupted silence.

"Why is everyone so quiet?" He asked.

We all looked up at each other. No one seemed to have an answer.

"Nice lesson today, Mr. Matthews," I spoke up.

He smiled, "Thank you, Maya. You know, it was one that I really had to think long and hard about."

I smiled back and nodded.

"Riley," he started. Riley looked up and put down her fork. "When I was getting some clothes for Shawn to bring to you, I noticed the painting in your closet."

I dropped my fork. I could feel my face becoming flushed with embarrassment. He saw my painting of Riley? My cheeks must be bright red right now.

She replied, "I'm sorry, Dad. I know that must have felt like adding insult to injury." Riley was being rather calm, collected and diplomatic about the whole thing.

"Yeah, it stung a little at first," Mr. Matthews admitted.

"I'm really sorry," I started. "I swear I wasn't trying to be sneaky or disrespectful all those nights I slept over."

"Maya, do you remember what I said to you that day in the library?" He asked.

"The day you gave me my phone? Yeah, I remember." I answered.

Riley looked at her father, and then at me.

"What did he say?" She asked me.

I looked at him and then turned to Riley.

"He gave me a smartphone and colored pencils. He said 'You let me know everything that's going on with Riley and if something beautiful ever happens, paint me a picture,'" I explained.

Riley's eyebrows furrowed. She looked at her father. "The reason you gave Maya a phone was so she could spy on me?"

Without waiting for a response, she whipped her head around back to me and accusingly asked "You were spying on me?!"

"Oh, relax honey," I replied. "It's not like you and Ranger Rick ever did anything worth writing home to Daddy about. All you and Lucas ever did anyway was say 'hi...hey...hi...' back and forth awkwardly."

"That sounds boring," Auggie said.

I turned to him. "Oh it was Auggie. It was excruciating to watch."

I looked back at Riley. She was glaring at me.

Mr. Matthews continued, "I know that painting wasn't for me, but I'm still glad I got to see it, because it reminded me of that day in the library, and suddenly my anger didn't seem as valid anymore. Because it made me realize that what's happening between the two of you is actually something beautiful."

Riley's glare quickly dissolved into a big smile. I haven't seen her look this happy in a long time. I'm so relieved that her dad isn't angry with us anymore, and I'm glad my painting had something to do with it. What do ya know? Art heals.

He continued, "It pains me to know that you felt like you had to hide this from me, and I wish you didn't feel like the only way you could be together was behind my back, but I admire both of you for being true to yourselves," he said.

"I was afraid to tell you," Riley said looking at both of her parents.

"Why?" Topanga asked.

"Well I knew everything would change. I was afraid you would treat Maya differently. Dad, I know you're not really thrilled about the idea of me dating anyone. When I liked Lucas, you wouldn't let him be in my room. I was afraid you would keep Maya out of my room too. But mostly I was afraid to disappoint you," she revealed.

"Why would you think we'd be disappointed?" Mr. Matthews asked.

"Probably because my mom was," I answered, "or at least I thought she was at first, but she wasn't, actually."

"Well what about after you realized Katy wasn't disappointed, were you still afraid that we would be?" Topanga asked.

"Yes." Riley said.

Cory and Topanga exchanged looks of disbelief.

"Have ya even met us?" He asked.

"I just thought you guys had some kind of expectations about who I should turn out to be and what my life should be like," Riley explained.

"Our only expectation is that you tell us the truth and include us in what's going on in your life," Topanga said.

"Yeah, Riley, the only way you disappointed me was by making me the last to know," her father said.

I spoke up, "But I know that I disappointed you."

He and Topanga looked at each other and then looked at me. I could see it in their eyes.

"You were right. Riley and I always slept together before, when we were just friends. But once we were more than that, I should have stopped doing it. I know she's still your little girl and this is your home and I disrespected your rules and I'm sorry," I apologized sincerely.

"But just for the record," Riley started

Topanga immediately covered Auggie's ears. "All we did was kiss and cuddle. It was completely innocent."

"So the two of you aren't..." Topanga trailed off.

Is her mom seriously trying to ask us if we're having sex?

Just then the intercom rang. Saved by the bell.

"It's me, Katy," the voice in the speaker box announced.

Oh no. I think I know where this is going. Cory got up and answered the door. "I asked your mother to come by after she finished taking inventory at the bakery," he said.

Hmm. I wonder why.

"We don't need to order anymore flour for at least a month," my mom said as she walked in the door. "Hi, girls"

"Hi Mom," I said.

"Hi Katy," Riley said.

"So, Matthews, to what do we owe this parental ambush?" I asked.

He dodged my question. "Hey, Auggie! Let's go to your room and play candy land!"

"Yay!" Auggie cheered. Mr. Matthews grabbed Auggie's hand and they dashed out of the room.

Riley leaned in "Peaches, what's going on?"

"Oh, honey. Brace yourself," I replied.

"For what?"

"A whole lotta awkward."

Both of our Mom's sat directly across from us at the kitchen table. They looked at each other and then at us, and then back at each other again, neither of them knowing how to begin.

"You're gonna give us the talk now, aren't you?" I asked.

"The talk?" Riley asked.

"The sex talk." I said.

"Oooh that talk," Riley said.

"Well that's the plan," my mother said, still looking uncomfortable.

"Except I don't really know how to do this," Topanga admitted.

"What?!" Riley asked, astonished. "My mother, Topanga Matthews doesn't know something?" she teased.

"I would know what to say if you were dating a boy," Topanga said.

My mother looked at Topanga. "Didn't you do any experimenting in college?" she asked.

"I was already engaged to Cory by the time I went to college. We got married while we were in college," Topanga answered. Topanga then questioned my mother in return, "Did you experiment in college, Katy?"

"I dropped out after three days!" she replied.

"Kiss any women in those three days?" Topanga asked.

Riley facepalmed at her mother's question.

My mother shook her head and shrugged helplessly.

I turned to Riley. "I take back what I said about watching you and Lucas being excruciating. That's not even close to being as excruciating as this," I said.

"Well maybe we could ask Morgan," Topanga suggested.

"Aunt Morgan?" Riley asked incredulously.

"It couldn't hurt to ask," Topanga said as she reached over and grabbed the iPad.

Riley turned to me. She looked mortified. "My mom is about to video call my Aunt so she can talk to me about how to have sex with you. Is that really what's happening right now?"

I nodded, "Pretty much, yeah"

Wait. If we tell Morgan, does that mean-

"Josh isn't going to know is he?" I asked

"What? That Aunt Morgan is giving us the sex talk?" Riley asked, confused.

"No, I mean, she won't tell him about us, right?" I asked, concerned.

"Why wouldn't you want him to find out about us?" Riley questioned me.

"Because..." I trailed off. She continued to question me with her eyes.

"It would be awkward," I said.

"Why? You said you didn't even really like him, you were just projecting your feelings for me onto him." Riley said.

"Exactly. If he found that out, well, I don't know, I don't want to crush the guy's ego." I reasoned.

"He's not just some random older guy that you had a confused crush on. He's my uncle. He's going to find out at sooner or later." Riley said.

I relented with a sigh. "Ok, Pumpkin. Whatever you want."

She leaned in and planted a consolation kiss on my cheek.

"Morgan's not answering," Topanga put the iPad down.

She continued, "Ok, well I may not be able to speak from experience about this, and the conventional methods don't really apply here, but I do know that there are still precautions you need to take."

"Precautions?" Riley asked.

Topanga looked at my mother, "We should get them vaccinated for HPV."

My mother nodded, "Good idea."

Mr. Matthews peeked his head in the doorway. "How's it going?" he asked.

"Nowhere," I said.

"Please tell me the reason you have returned is because it's over." Riley pleaded.

"We tried. You want to take a shot Cory?" Topanga asked.

"Uhh, " he stammered. "Well…" he paused.

"At least you can't get each other pregnant," he smiled.

"That's right. You can't," my mother added. "No matter how hard you try."

And now it was my turn to facepalm at my mother's comment. Riley joined me in facepalming solidarity.

"We're not even trying, Mom," I said.

"But Dad, like you said, she can't, even if she tried, so can she sleep in my bed?" Riley asked.

"NO!" He affirmed. "Maya is sleeping on the couch tonight. Look, I even put out extra pillows and blankets for her." Mr. Matthews pointed to the couch.

"Thanks." I smiled graciously.

Wait. I'm sleeping here tonight? Riley and I looked at each other as we realized what this meant. She looked at her dad.

"So does that mean I can come back home?" she asked. Her hopeful smile revealed those adorable dimples.

"Please come home. I've really missed you, Riley," he said. She jumped up and threw her arms around him.

"I missed you too, Daddy! Let's never fight ever again!" Riley exclaimed.

"Sounds good to me," he said.


	27. Chapter 27

(Authors Note:

It was hard to write this weekend. It was hard to do anything this weekend.

Because Christina Grimmie. Because Pulse. Because Orlando. Because America.

Because I'm a Christina Grimmie fan.

Because I'm an American.

Because I'm part of the LGBT community, and I would guess that most of the readers of this story are as well.

I just want to say to each and every one of you, that I love you.

Thank you for reading my story about two girls falling in love.

Because love is love.

And Love conquers hate.

Thank you all for letting me share this with you.

Thank you for inspiring me.

Let's all look out for one another and keep each other safe.)

Riley's POV

I tried to fall asleep but I couldn't. I was glad to be back in my bed, but I had grown so fond of falling asleep in Maya's arms, laying my head on her chest and taking comfort in the sound of her heart beating. These pillows are a poor substitute. I quietly tiptoed to the living room and watched Maya as she slept on the couch. Well, I guess she didn't have any trouble falling asleep without me. I remembered Farkle's comment from the day we were learning about the tell tale heart: "I don't know how Maya can just fall asleep anywhere!" Same, Farkle. Same.

I slowly and quietly climbed onto the couch and lied on top of her. I rested my head on her chest. There it is. I took refuge in the sound of Maya's heart.

"Riles?"

"Peaches!" Oops. "Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you."

"Are you okay?" she asked.

"I couldn't sleep."

"What's wrong, honey?"

"I just missed you."

She wrapped her arms around me and planted an kiss on my head.

"I didn't get a chance to miss you because I was dreaming of you," she said.

I chuckled. "What'd ya dream about me?"

"Well, we were going to Prom-"

"Yay!"

"-And I begged you not to wear heels-"

"Uh oh."

"-Because you're a superclutz and I'm a short stack of pancakes-

"Yep."

"-But you wore them anyway-"

"No!"

"-And one of your heels broke-"

I gasped.

"-You lost your balance and fell-"

"Ouch!"

"-Nope. No Ouch. Because I caught you."

"Awww, Yay." I smiled.

"Honey?"

"Peaches?"

"Please, don't wear heels to prom." she requested.

"But what if I want you to catch me?"

"Well, you are quite a catch, but how will I kiss you if I can't reach your face?"

"Aww, my little Peaches."

"Shut up."

"My poor, vertically challenged, Peaches."

"Well, at least I'm not gravity challenged."

"Hah. Gravity does knock me down a lot," I admitted.

"And I'll be right here to catch you when it does," she assured me. I melted just a little bit.

"I love you."

"I love you too. And that's why I'm sending you back to your bed now."

"Nooooo!" Wow. That came out really whiny.

"Riley-"

"He said you couldn't sleep in my bed. He didn't expressly prohibit me from sleeping on the couch," I argued.

"Okay, Topanga, attorney at law," she teased.

"It's a solid defense, Maya."

"Riles, we just got back on your dad's good side. I really don't want to take any chances, especially before prom," she reasoned.

"Speaking of prom, we really need to go prom shopping soon, before everything good is sold out," I suggested.

"You want to go together?" she asked.

"No, I don't want us to see each other's dresses beforehand."

"Okay, maybe we can see if the guys want to go," she said.

"Who do you want, Farkle, or Lucas and Zay?" I asked.

"Uhhh, I don't want to go prom shopping with Ranger Rick," Maya said.

"Why not?" I asked.

"Because a month ago he and I were dating and I don't know if he was planning to ask me to prom. I don't want it to be awkward for him," she explained.

"Good point," I agreed. "Okay, you get Farkle."

"Now that we've settled that, please go back to bed, Pumpkin."

I lifted my head and looked at her.

"I tried. I couldn't fall asleep without you."

She leaned in and kissed me.

I saw her phone on the coffee table and reached for it.

"How about this? I'll set an alarm for 15 minutes before my dad usually wakes up. I'll go back to bed then, and he won't know the difference."

She sighed. "Okay, honey. Whatever you want." She kissed me goodnight and I sank back down into her arms, where I drifted off to sleep.


	28. Chapter 28

Maya's POV

Farkle and I got out of the PATH train in Jersey City. I wasn't sure where we should go prom shopping, but Riley said she was going to the Manhattan mall so Farkle thought we should go to the Newport mall. It was only a few stops away from Greenwich Village on the PATH. I don't really ever go to New Jersey, but Farkle seemed to know where he was going.

"I think you'll like this mall, Maya. It's much bigger than the Manhattan mall," he said.

I shrugged. "A mall is a mall." As I reached the top of the escalator, I could see the riverfront. I was captivated by the skyline. So this what it looks like from the other side of the Hudson. I walked closer to the water.

Farkle followed. "Maya, the mall is the other way," he said.

"Hold on, Farkle. Check out this view," I said.

"Isn't it great? I've always felt the best view of New York City is from Jersey City," he said.

I pulled my sketchbook out of my backpack. "Do you mind if we hold off on the shopping. I'd love to draw this," I asked.

"As you wish, sketch away," he replied.

He took out his phone and started taking photos of the skyline.

A small group of private school students were walking along the riverfront. Two boys and two girls. The girls, in their polo shirts and pleated skirts with knee high socks, the boys, in their khakis, were loosening the their ties and taking off their blazers. They reminded me of my friends.

"Hey Farkle?" I said still watching the private school kids. I didn't realize I had unintentionally started to draw them.

Farkle noticed my sketch of them and then followed my gaze. "Yes, Maya?"

"How come your parents didn't put you in private school?" I asked.

"You think I'd look good in a blazer and tie?" He joked.

"Honestly, Farkle, do you ever wonder how we're best friends?" I asked.

"What do you mean, Maya?" He asked.

I looked away from the blazers and pleated skirts and turned to Farkle.

"We're as different as any two friends could possibly be. You're a scientist. I'm an artist. You're wealthy. I'm poor. You're a genius. I'm-"

"You're smart too, Maya." He stopped me before I could say anything self-deprecating.

"I don't get it though. You're dad is so successful. Your family has so much money. Why wouldn't he put you in private school?" I pressed.

"My parents were going to enroll me at a private middle school, but I refused. I told them I wanted to go to John Quincy Adams with my friends," he smiled.

I smiled back. "I'm glad you did."

"As am I," he replied.

"What about high school?" I asked.

"He suggested some prestigious private schools, but I told him I want to go where my friends go."

"Any thoughts on college yet?" I asked.

"My dad is trying to push Princeton on me, but we'll see," he shrugged.

"You strike me as Ivy League material," I said.

"Maybe. Or maybe I'm MIT material. But I'd really love to get into Cooper Union."

Sounds familiar. "What's Cooper Union?" I asked.

"I'm surprised you don't know. It's the most selective art school in the country."

"Oh, really? Then what would you want with it?" I asked.

"It's also a science and engineering school, Its full name is The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art."

"Wow, there's actually a college that appeals to both of us," I remarked, pleasantly surprised.

"Yeah and it's right near us, in the East Village."

Oooh. That's why it sounded familiar. I remember now seeing the Cooper Union sign at the Astor Place subway station.

"Even if I could get in, I'm sure I could never afford it," I said.

"Every student gets a half tuition scholarship," he said.

"Say what now?!" Now he's really got my attention.

"They used to give every student a full tuition scholarship until they had a financial crisis during the recession, now it's only half tuition," he explained.

"That's still amazing! A private art school that's half free, and I wouldn't have to pay for a dorm, I could live at home because it's so close." I could hear the sound of my own voice doing something dangerous. You're getting your hopes up, Maya. They're the most selective art school in the country. You're probably not going to get in.

My face must have been conveying my doubts. Farkle answered my thoughts. "Getting into Cooper Union isn't easy, but it also isn't impossible. Just work on your portfolio over the next few years, and show them your best work," he said.

"Yeah. Who knows? Maybe we'll both get in," I entertained the possibility.

He smiled really big. "Wouldn't it be great if we could go to college together?"

I smiled. "Yeah it would. But right now we have an 8th grade prom to go to." I finished up my preliminary sketch of the skyline and snapped a photo with my phone to use as a point of reference to help me fill in the details later. I packed up my sketchbook and pencils. I took one last look at the riverfront and the group of private school friends I had been drawing.

I turned to Farkle and gave him a hug. He hugged me back.

"What was that for?" He asked, as we started walking toward the mall.

"I don't know if I ever thanked you for entering me in the talent show, so thanks. It turned out to be one the best nights of my life," I said.

"Because it was the night Riley asked you to be her girlfriend?" he asked.

I blushed and smiled. "Yeah."

We walked into the mall.

"I like seeing you this happy, Maya. I like seeing you both happy together," he said.

"What about you? Did you ask Smackle to prom?" I asked.

"I did. And she accepted," he grinned.

"Nice!" I gave him a high five.

"Now, I just need you to help me figure out what to wear," he said.

"I'll try, but I really don't know much about menswear," I replied.

"That makes two of us," I said.

We went to a department store and each picked out a few different options and met back at the fitting rooms.

"Hey Maya, what do you think of this?"

Farkle had already tried on his first look.

I opened my fitting room door and peered out. Farkle was wearing a tan khaki colored suit with a red and white checkered button down shirt.

"I didn't realize our prom theme was a garden party," I teased.

"It's not," he said.

"Then why are you wearing that?"

"What do you want from me? It's June. All the menswear is designed for summer right now," he snapped.

"It looks fine, just don't wear it to prom," I replied honestly.

"What should I wear it to?" he asked.

"A picnic, at which you plan on taking off your shirt and using it as a tablecloth," I mocked. I'm sorry, but that shirt really looks like it belongs on a picnic table.

"Well, did you do any better? Show me what you're trying on," he demanded.

I walked out of my fitting room wearing a long, cobalt blue ballroom gown. It was a high neck halter, leaving the top half of my back and my shoulders bare, with a fitted bodice and skirt that was full enough to twirl around in. I twirled for Farkle.

"What do you think?" I asked him.

His jaw dropped. Well, that's a good reaction. I think.

His eyes scanned me up and down, his was jaw still on the floor. I stepped closer and lifted his chin back up for him.

"You gonna say something? Or you just gonna stare?" I asked, growing impatient.

A smile spread across his face.

"You look amazing, Maya. I think Riley is going to be luckiest person in the room."

Aww, Farkle! I flashed him a big smile. I twirled again.

"I think this is the one, Maya. You should get this dress. It brings out your eyes so nicely."

My smile faded. "I wish I could."

"Why can't you?" he questioned.

"I just tried it on to feel pretty for a minute. I can't really afford it," I admitted.

"But it's so beautiful on you, Maya," He argued.

"People like me don't get to have beautiful things. People like me go to thrift shops and buy second hand things that other people have already looked beautiful in," I said, sadly.

"Then let me buy it for you," he offered.

"What? No, I couldn't-"

"I insist."

"No, Farkle, it's designer-"

"And for once in your life you deserve to have one designer dress, Maya." He wasn't letting this go.

"Farkle, darling, you are so sweet to offer, but I can't let you-"

"Yes, you can, and you will, you must!" He wasn't taking no for an answer.

"I can't. I won't-"

"Yes, you will. I'm an authorized user on one of my dad's AMEX cards. I charge stuff to it all the time. He never even bothers to ask what the charges are for. This dress is a fortune to you, and it's just pennies to him. I'm not letting you leave this mall without this dress. If Riley were here, I bet she'd agree with me. If Riley were here, she would say 'Ring Power'! and this argument would be over."

Well, he's right about that. I think he just won. How can you argue with a genius anyway?

"Okay, but I don't know how I'll ever repay you, Farkle." I relented.

"You can repay me, right now, by helping me choose a better suit. You clearly have excellent taste."

I straightened his collar and took a closer look at his shirt.

"I can work with this checkered pattern, but we need to change up the color scheme," I decided.

I changed back into my clothes and followed Farkle back to the menswear section. This was actually quite fun for me. He was like blank canvass and I new exactly what colors I wanted to paint him with. I just hope I can find them on these racks. Yes! Here it is! I picked up a midnight blue suit and handed it to Farkle.

"Is it your size?" He checked the tags and nodded.

"Now, do they have that checkered shirt in orange?" I asked.

"Orange?" he asked

"Yeah, just like your favorite turtleneck. Not many people can pull off orange, Farkle. Embrace it."

"The shirts are over here on this rack," he lead me to them. They did have the same checkered shirt in a pale orange and white pattern.

"Great! Grab the orange one in your size," I instructed him. Then we went over to the accessories.

I selected a vibrant burnt orange necktie and a matching burnt orange pocket square.

"These should contrast well against the pale orange boxes in the shirt pattern, and complement the midnight blue suit nicely," I explained.

We returned to the fitting rooms and Farkle went in one to change. I waited anxiously to see if my ensemble would work out as well as I had envisioned it.

When he opened the door, it was my jaw that was now dropping. "Wow, look at you, Stunner!" Stunning is really the only word that accurately describes him right now.

"I look goooooood," he said. "I should let you dress me up more often."

He walked out of the fitting room like he was on a runway, and did a little twirl of his own.

"Farkle, forget the whole genius thing. You're GQ model now," I said.

He grinned. "You know Maya, I have to say, I never would have thought to put these pieces together on my own, but they all work so well together to create a great look."

"Of course they do." I said. "Blue and orange are complementary colors. Trust me, I'm an artist."


	29. Chapter 29

(Author's Note: Sorry this update took awhile. I'm not sure why I had such trouble getting this one out. I seem to struggle when it comes to writing Rucas scenes. I am however very happy to celebrate a milestone. This story has gotten over 20,000 hits/views combined between this site and another site. Thank you all so much for reading! I never expected something I wrote to reach so many people who would read it so many times. It blows my mind. I'm so grateful.)

Riley's POV

I waited for Lucas and Zay outside the Manhattan mall, near Herald Square. I didn't want to wait inside because for some reason I get terrible cell service in there and they might try to call or text.

"Riley!" Lucas ran up the stairs from the subway. But why is he still wearing his baseball uniform?

"Hey, Slugger. How was the game?" I asked.

"Great! We won, and I'm really glad we did because it was our last game together as a team," he smiled.

"Nice job! I see you're still wearing pinstripes," I commented.

He looked down at his attire and then back up at me.

"Yeah, see the guys thought it would be funny to pull off one last prank and they stole my clothes."

I laughed.

"So, I'm sorry I have to shop with you in my dirty uniform," he said.

"I'm sorry you have to shop in cleats." I sympathized with him.

"Where's Zay?" I asked.

"He's not coming," Lucas replied.

"Why not?" I wondered.

"He is at home, packing. He has to catch a flight to Austin tonight. He's not going to our prom, because he's taking Vanessa to her prom," Lucas explained.

"Awww. Zay and Vanessa. Yay!" I smiled at the news.

"Yep. Everyone has a prom date but me," Lucas pouted.

"Hey, there's still time to ask someone," I said.

"Everyone I had thought about going with is already going with someone else," he said. I wonder if he means Maya, but I think I'd prefer not to know.

We walked into the mall and took the escalator down into JC Penny.

"I figured if we don't like anything here, we can always leave and head over to Macy's"

"Sure," He agreed.

He headed to the men's section and I picked out some dresses to try on. When we met back at the fitting rooms, Lucas was wearing new clothes. He was wearing blue faded denim shorts and a heather grey fitted t shirt. His cleats were replaced by a pair of low top black boots.

"Much better!" I gave him a thumbs up.

"I couldn't stand the uniform anymore. I bought a new outfit."

But boots with shorts? Isn't it too warm for boots? He saw me looking strangely at the boots.

"I was trying to decide between these and a pair of tennis shoes-"

"A pair of what?" I interrupted.

"Tennis Shoes" he repeated.

"Since when do you play tennis?" I asked.

He shook his head "No, Riley," he pointed to a mannequin wearing a pair of casual sport shoes. "Tennis Shoes" he reiterated.

I looked at the mannequin's feet and then back at Lucas. "Those are sneakers," I clarified.

"What?" He asked

"Sneakers," I repeated.

"Sneak-ers?" He enunciated. I nodded.

"Is that a New York thing?" he asked.

"Is 'tennis shoes'," I said while making air quotes, "a Texas thing?"

Lucas gestured toward a salesgirl walking by. He pointed to the mannequin's feet. "What are these called?" He asked her.

"Nike Air Max-"

"Right, but what do you refer to this style of footwear as?" He asked. She looked at him like he was a weirdo. She definitely think he's a tourist now.

"Uh, those are sneakers," she said.

"Hah!" I knew it.

"But it just sounds so weird to me, sneakers?" He said.

"What do you call them?" She asked him.

"Tennis shoes," he replied.

She looked at him in disbelief, "But these are clearly meant for basketball," she said.

Lucas shook his head. "I know they're for basketball, but all athletic shoes are called tennis shoes," he said.

"Then what do you call shoes you play tennis in?" she asked him.

"I don't play tennis," he said.

I pointed to his boots and asked him "What do you call those?"

"Boots," he said. He turned to the salesgirl. "What would you call them?" He asked her. She looked at his boots.

"So last season," she said as she walked away.

"Yeah, Lucas, it's June. Do you really need another pair of boots?" I asked.

"Do you know how many boots your dad has pulled off my feet while I was running out of your bedroom window?"

I giggled. Of course I know. I still have them. He smiled.

"Those were good times," I said.

We went into the fitting rooms and started trying on our potential prom wear. I was having trouble reaching the zipper of my dress that was awkwardly placed. It was a violet colored one shoulder long evening gown with an empire waist. The waistline had floral embroidery and the shoulder was lined with a few rhinestones. I wish Maya were here to zip it for me. I opened the door and peeked my head out hoping that salesgirl was around and could help me. I spotted a girl walking toward the fitting room with a prom dress of her own to try on. As she got closer, I recognized her.

"Haley!" I waved at her. She waved back and came over. Yay! Classmate to the rescue.

"Hey Riley," she greeted me.

"How ya doin?" I asked.

"Good, just prom shopping. You too, huh?" she replied.

I nodded. "Could you please help me zipper this? I can't reach it very well." I asked.

"Yeah, sure." She hung her dress on the door. I turned around and held my hair out of the way as she zipped me up.

She looked over my shoulder to my reflection and smiled.

"This dress looks great on you, Riley," she complimented me.

I smiled back. "Thanks, Haley."

"Your date is going to be one lucky guy," she said. I turned around to face her.

"Lucky girl, actually," I said.

"Maya?" She asked.

I nodded.

"So what I've been hearing is true? You and Maya are really a couple?" she asked.

I nodded. "We made it official at the talent show," I answered.

"After she sang that song to you?" She asked.

Well, I guess other people noticed that Maya was looking at me while she was performing too. I nodded.

She grinned "Aww you guys are so cute! I'm happy for you."

"Who are you going with?" I asked her.

"I don't have a date yet. But I have someone in mind."

"Who?"

"I don't want to tell you."

"Why?"

"Because you used to like him and so did your girlfriend."

"Lucas?!" Oops, I said that really loud. He heard me and answered.

"Yeah, Riley?" He called out.

"Nothing, I'm good." I yelled back.

"He's here?!" she exclaimed.

"We're prom shopping together," I explained.

"What should I do?" She looked alarmed.

"Ask him to go to prom with you," I encouraged her.

"What if he doesn't want to go with me?" She asked.

I turned her around and made her look in the mirror at herself. I took the hair clip out of her hair and fixed it as it fell around her face. She had long reddish brown hair and piercing blue eyes.

"Look at you. Who wouldn't want to go with you," I said, hoping to build her confidence, but also because it's true. Haley is such an attractive girl, she must be aware of that on some level. She smiled at me.

"Bold women make bold choices."

"What does that mean?" She asked.

"It's what I say right before I push someone into a bold decision."

"Hey, Riley, can you tell me what you think of this suit?" Lucas called out.

"You got this, Haley." I said as I quickly opened the door to my fitting, shoved her out towards Lucas and quickly shut the door behind her so she couldn't run back in.

"Haley?" Lucas asked, confused.

"Hi Lucas," she said nervously.

I opened the door just a crack to watch.

"Hey" he said.

"You look great in that suit," She complimented him.

"Thank you." Lucas said.

Haley took a deep breath.

"I'm sure you probably never really notice me. How could you? I always sit behind you. I sit two rows behind you in Mr. Matthews class. I sit at the lab station behind you and Maya in Mr. Norton's class. I know we've never talked much, and you've never really noticed me, but I notice you, Lucas. And I was wondering if you would go to prom with me?"

Lucas smiled.

"Wow, Haley, I'm flattered," he said.

"What do you say?" She asked.

"Sure, Haley. Let's do it."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah, thanks for asking me."

They stood there exchanging goofy smiles for a moment.

"Will you excuse me?" She asked. He nodded.

Haley turned around and ran back into my fitting room. She jumped up and down.

"He said yes!" She exclaimed.

"Yayyyyy!" I celebrated with her.

She grabbed her dress off the door and called out to Lucas.

"Ok, Lucas, I'm leaving now and I don't want you to see my dress before prom so close your eyes."

"Okay, they're closed," he answered.

She looked back at me, "Thank you, Riley"

Haley walked out of the fitting rooms with her dress, a skip in her step, and a prom date. I left my stall and walked up to Lucas. He was still covering his eyes.

"You can open your eyes now," I said.

He lowered his hand from his eyes and looked me up and down. A huge smile spread across his face.

"Well, you look happy," I remarked.

"And you look incredible," he said.

There was something in his smile, in his eyes, in his voice. Something familiar. Like the way he used to look at me before. When everything was easy. Before he liked Maya. Before I liked Maya. Before things became so complicated.

"I like your suit. What do you think of this dress?" I asked, looking away to avoid his seemingly admiring gaze.

"Give me a twirl," he said.

I cooperated with his request.

"Riley I really, really like this dress," he said. "You're beautiful."

What's happening? My face felt hot. Am I blushing? Is Lucas making me blush. Suddenly things started to feel more complicated than ever.

I changed the subject. "You're date is pretty beautiful, herself. You just got asked to the prom by the prettiest girl in class, well second prettiest, of course I think Maya is the prettiest," I rambled on.

"I can think of one more girl that's prettier." he said with a smirk, looking directly at me, clearly implying that he meant me.

"Lucas, don't make me tell Maya that you're flirting with me," I scolded.

"I think I made a mistake," he admitted.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Ever since we all talked things out that day in your room, when I learned that your feelings for me were real, and Maya's weren't, I felt like I made a mistake, like I went out with the wrong girl," he revealed.

Something about this conversation started to feel forbidden.

"Well you had help. I'm the one who put the brakes on us. I'm the one who pushed you and Maya together in Texas. It's just as much my mistake as it is yours." I said, taking responsibility for my share of the blame. "I thought I was doing the right thing at the time. I just wanted Maya to be happy," I explained.

"And now she is, because she has you," he said. I thought I detected a hint of regret in the tone of his voice. "I've never seen Maya this happy before. I hope she knows how lucky she is."

Stop. Stop blushing, Riley. What's wrong with you? I agreed to go prom shopping with Lucas so Maya could avoid the awkwardness of any residual feelings Lucas might be harboring. He was harboring alright, just not on the ship I expected. The scarier question is, am I harboring residual feelings of my own? I shook my head vigorously. Lucas looked confused by my action.

"We should get going," I said, suddenly wanting to distance myself from this conversation.

"I'm sorry if I said anything to make you uncomfortable," Lucas apologized.

"Are you? Are you really sorry?" I snapped.

"Yeah. I am, Riley. I'm sorry that I missed my opportunity with you," he replied.


	30. Chapter 30

(Authors Note: I thought the prom was going to be one chapter, but I think it's a little too complicated for that, so I'm splitting it up into a few chapters. Here is the first. As always, thank so much for reading, and I really appreciated all the feedback you guys left about the last chapter.)

Maya's POV

I rang the bell and waited for Riley to answer the door. I actually have to use the front door tonight. There's no way I can climb into any windows in this dress and these heels.

Riley opened the door. She looked ... I couldn't find the words, or even the air to make the words. She took my breath away.

"Wow, Maya" she said, her eyes cascading over me.

"Wow, yourself Riles," I replied. We stood there for a moment just admiring each other's beauty and smiling at each other. Gosh, I feel like such a girl.

"I got you a corsage," I said as I took her hand and slipped the double white carnation corsage over her wrist. She smelled the flowers and smiled.

"Thanks, Peaches. I love it. I'm sorry I didn't get you one." She said.

"Don't worry about it, Honey, flowers are your thing. They look better on you" I said.

She leaned in and kissed me softly.

As we pulled away from our kiss, a camera flashed. Topanga was snapping pictures of us. "Oh my darlings, you're both so beautiful! I think I'm gonna cry!" She started to shed a few tears.

"Aww, Mom, please pull yourself together." Riley said.

We posed for some pictures to make Topanga happy. Then we headed outside and hailed a cab to the prom.

I reached over and held her hand in the taxi. "I love your dress." I told her.

"My dress? Forget about my dress! Can we talk about YOUR dress? You look like you just walked off a runway." She said, enthusiastically.

I smiled. "Oh, honey, you know I'm not tall enough for that. Runway models are at least 5"6. You could probably do it though."

"Hah!" She laughed at the idea. "We both know I'm much too clumsy to be a runway model."

"Yeah, you'd probably fall off the runway." I remarked. We both laughed, because it's true.

Riley's POV

As we got out of the cab I spotted Lucas and Haley outside the venue. They both looked stunning, and they just looked so good together. Haley looked so happy. I know I did the right thing by encouraging her to ask Lucas. Maya lead me toward them, she was still holding my hand. I reluctantly followed. It's not that I didn't want to say hello, I just didn't know if it would be awkward considering the way Lucas and I left our last conversation.

"Hey Huckleberry," Maya opened her arms to greet Lucas with a hug.

"Riley!" Haley threw her arms around me in an excited hug. She whispered in my ear "Thanks again."

"Anytime," I replied.

"You both look so amazing!" Haley said, as we pulled out of our hug. She then gave Maya a hug as well.

"Thanks, so do you!" Maya replied to Haley. Lucas stepped closer to presumably give me a hug. I quickly looked around for some excuse to avoid it.

"Farkle!" Farkle was heading in our direction with Smackle. Thank goodness. I quickly turned away and hurried over to Farkle, gladly giving him a hug instead.

Maya's POV

Huh. That was weird. Riley didn't want to let Lucas hug her. Why does Riley look so uncomfortable around Lucas? I looked at Lucas, expecting to see his face as perplexed as mine must look but it didn't. It looked slightly disappointed, but not surprised. His eyes were locked on Riley the whole time, as if he were still waiting for something. Haley and I exchanged glances, as if we were both looking at each other for an answer that neither of us had. But my questions would have to wait. I walked over and gave Farkle a big hug. I didn't hug Smackle though, because I know she's not big on hugging.

"Wow, Farkle!" Riley exclaimed. "You look so great in this suit!"

Lucas was still gazing in Riley's direction, and I could tell Haley was noticing it just as much as I was.

"Thanks! Styled by the lovely Ms. Maya Hart," Farkle said, giving credit where credit is due.

I smiled. Riley turned to me, "Nice work, Peaches," she said.

"Thank you, Maya, for making my handsome date look even more impeccable," Smackle said.

"It was my pleasure," I said.

"You both look beautiful," Farkle said, looking at Riley and I.

"They do. They're going to be the most beautiful couple at this prom," Lucas added.

Oh, Huckleberry. Why? Why would you say that about the two girls you used to like in front of the girl who clearly and currently likes you? Haley just nodded in agreement, and looked away. If I could see her eyes, I'm sure they would be staring daggers into someone. I glanced at Riley and- wait- what is that? It looked like the remnants of a blush. Was she blushing? At what Lucas said? or at what Farkle said? or both? I know that look. It's the look she has when she's trying to suppress a smile. Except I haven't seen that look in ages. Not since…oh my gosh…

I looked at Huckleberry.

Same LOOK!

He was trying to suppress a smile too. What the?

What's going on?

Something must have happened when they went shopping together. But what?


	31. Chapter 31

(Here is the next installment of prom. Thanks again, for all of your feedback, I really appreciate it.)

Riley's POV

Prom is amazing. Everyone looks amazing. We were all dancing and having a great time together. Maya looks so incredibly beautiful tonight. Lucas had it backwards. I'm the one who's lucky.

The DJ started playing a slower song. I recognized it. It was Taylor Swift's "Out of the Woods" but it was a cover version by some boy band who slowed it down and sang it with harmonies. I wrapped my arms around Maya's waist and she put her her hands on my shoulders. We danced slowly and I gazed into her eyes. The dim lighting made it hard to tell, but her eyes didn't seem as blue as they had been earlier. Her blue dress had really brought out the blue in her eyes before. But now they seemed a little more grey.

"Are you okay, Peaches?"

She nodded and gave me a half smile.

"Are you sure?"

"We tell each other everything, don't we?" She asked.

"Of course, love," I answered.

"So, is there anything you want to tell me?" She asked.

She's always so good at sensing when something is going on with me. But I just didn't see how telling her what Lucas said to me would benefit anyone. It would just hurt her friendship with Lucas. A friendship that they had just repaired after going through their breakup. Nothing good would come from me telling her.

"Yes. I wanted to tell you that you're the most beautiful girl in this room, and your eye makeup slays," I said.

She smiled. "It better slay! It took long enough."

"I've never seen you wear such dramatic eye makeup before," I said.

"Usually it's not my thing, but the dress inspired me to do it. And it was kind of fun. It was just like painting, but with eye shadow," she explained.

She never ceases to amaze me. The first time she picked up a pencil, she effortlessly drew the night sky. The first time she picks out menswear she makes Farkle look red carpet worthy. The first time she picks up eye shadow she makes herself look like she just walked out of a music video. Maya Hart is a creative genius, and she makes everything she touches more beautiful because of it.

I leaned in and kissed her. She kissed me back harder and let her lips linger on mine a little longer than usual. Then she looked into my eyes.

"I love you, Riley." she said.

"I love you too, Maya." I replied.

Maya's POV

Maybe I'm just being paranoid. If she's hiding something from me, I can't really tell. I know something is different in the way she interacts with Lucas now, but I don't know why and part of me doesn't want to know. I got lost in my thoughts for a moment and when I snapped back to reality I realized they were announcing who won Prom King and Queen. I wasn't paying attention, when they announced the King, but I saw Huckleberry wearing a crown. Lucas Friar is our Prom King, well that's not really a surprise. He is class President and Captain of the baseball team, and winner of the scholar athlete award. Who else would be Prom King, honestly? Then I heard them announce the Prom Queen, and was pleasantly surprised.

"Riley Matthews!"

Wow, who knew my little my princess would become a prom queen?

Her face lit up when she heard her name.

"Congratulations, my Queen!" I hugged her.

"Thanks, Peaches! I can't believe I won! Yaaayyyy!" she exclaimed

She went up to get her crown and stood next to Ranger Rick. I have to say, the crown suits her. But she's always been my Queen, and she always will be.

The DJ played a slow song and the spotlight landed on our newly crowned royalty. Everyone's eyes were on Riley and Lucas, expecting them to dance.

Oh no.

Lucas asked Riley to dance.

She seemed hesitant about it. But with everyone's eyes on her, of course she accepted.

Huh. I don't know how I feel about this.

"May I have this dance?" I turned my head to see Farkle I standing next to me.

"Sure, Farkle," I agreed, and we started to slow dance.

"But shouldn't you be dancing with Smackle?" I asked him.

"You know how she's not really into hugging?" He started.

"Well, she's not really into slow dancing either, for the same reason," he explained.

"Gotcha." I said.

Dancing with Farkle was like resting your head on your pillow at bed time. Familiar. Comfortable. Safe. We were all dancing just like how used to dance. Riley with Lucas, and Farkle with me. Just like we used to when things were easier. Before they got so complicated.

I watched Riley and Lucas. I noticed Haley was doing the same. They were smiling at each other with those goofy smiles they used to have together. I wish I knew what they were talking about.


	32. Chapter 32

(Another installment of prom, thanks again of sharing your thoughts on the story with me!)

Maya's POV

"Why is he looking at her like that?" I asked. Farkle looked over at Riley and Lucas, and then back to me.

"Because he's happy he won Prom King."

Farkle reasoned.

Riley's POV

"Why are you looking at me like that?" I asked Lucas as we danced slowly.

"Like what?" he asked.

"Like we're still sitting on a horse riding off into the sunset together," I said.

"Well, when we were on that horse, I put a crown on you and told you that to me you were a princess. And now here we are, both wearing crowns. I'm your king and you're my queen."

I couldn't help but smile. His smile has always been contagious that way.

"Lucas, if you don't stop talking like this-"

"Like what? You must like what I'm saying. I can see you smiling and blushing."

"And do you really think that's appropriate?" I asked him.

"We're just talking, Riley" he said.

Maya's POV

"They're just talking, Maya" Farkle tried to reassure me. "They're just talking and dancing like we are," he said.

"Farkle, look at them," I demanded.

He looked.

"Now look at us," I said.

He turned his head back to me.

"Now tell me it's the same."

He said nothing.

"What do you think is going on then?" He asked me.

I stared at them. Haley was staring too. And they didn't even notice. They were too focused on each other to notice their dates watching them.

"Maya, why did you stop dancing?" Farkle asked.

I was so fixated on them I didn't even realize that I had stopped.

"Look at her," I said. "She looks happy."

"Of course, she's happy. She just got crowned Prom Queen," he said. "And her date is the most beautiful girl in the room."

"Don't let Smackle hear you say that." I teased.

"Why? She probably has a better chance with you than I do," he teased back.

I smiled because he's probably right.

Riley's POV

"I just can't help but wonder-" Lucas started.

"You should probably stop letting yourself wonder," I cut him off.

"I shouldn't have let you go. When you told me you thought we were like brother and sister, I should have told you that I could never see you as my sister. I never should have let you push me and Maya together. I should have fought for you," he said.

Why? Why are you telling me this Lucas? It's not like we can go back and change any of it, and even if we could, why would I want to?

"I ruined everything," he said.

Maya's POV

"I ruined everything," I said.

"What?" Farkle responded.

"I pushed her into his lap on the subway because I wanted her to be happy. I shouldn't have said that they were like brother and sister, because I was wrong. They liked each other. But when Riley thought I liked him, I trusted her and I let her push Lucas and I together in Texas and I shouldn't have. Because look at them, Farkle, how perfect would this moment have been for them if they could have played out their love story. The love story that I set in motion in the first place. She would've gotten everything she wanted if I didn't complicate everything."

"Maya," Farkle placed his hand on my chin and turned my head to face him.

"Sure, she liked him. But you're the one she loves," he reassured me.

"How can you be so sure?" I questioned.

"It doesn't take a genius to know that the most important person is Riley Matthew's world has always been Maya Hart."

Riley's POV

"If I never let you go, then we'd be together right now. Just think about how perfect this moment would have been for us, Riley?" he said.

I don't want to think about that. Sure, there was a part of me that used to want that. I remember that part of me well. That part of me dreamed about this moment with this boy. But when Maya kissed me, everything changed.

"Lucas, you were the first boy I ever liked. You will always be special to me. And this moment is perfect, and I'll cherish it forever," I told him sincerely.

"But," I continued, "don't let getting caught up in the past make you miss out on the present. I'm with Maya now. And you're here with Haley. We're both very lucky," I said.

Maya's POV

"I wreck everything I touch," I said.

"What? No you don't, Maya." Farkle argued.

"I do. I did. Just look at how I wrecked the Rucas ship."

"What's a Rucas ship?" he asked, confused.

I could feel tears starting to well up. I didn't want to cry on the dance floor so I abruptly left Farkle and headed towards the restroom.

"Maya, are you okay?" He called after me.

"I'll be fine," I called back without looking at him. I didn't want him to see the tear that escaped.


	33. Chapter 33

(Another installment of Prom. Bear with me, guys. There will be several Prom chapters. Prom is a long night. Also, I have always believed that the real triangle of this show is that both Maya and Lucas love Riley, with Riley being in the middle rather than Lucas being between the two girls. If it were on any other network besides Disney channel, they would be able to explore that.)

Maya's POV

I locked myself into a bathroom stall, where I could let out my tears. There weren't too many just a few sobs that I was holding in. I'm starting to think that Riley never got over her feelings for Lucas. Of course that doesn't mean she doesn't love me. I know she does. But the way he was looking at her made me think he still had feelings for her too. And how can I compete with Mr. Perfect? How could anyone?

I heard the door to the restroom open and someone walked in.

"Maya?" a familiar voice called out.

"In here." I answered, unlatching the door to my stall.

It was Haley. "I saw you watching them. I was watching them too."

"I know, I saw you too. But they sure didn't see us, did they?" I remarked with a hint of hostility.

"Are you okay?" Haley asked putting her hand on my shoulder.

"You see it too, right? I'm not crazy." I said.

"I see something, yeah." Haley admitted.

I sighed.

"Here's what I think," she started. "Riley and Lucas used to like each other, and they just got crowned Prom King and Queen and they're dancing their victory dance and for any couple that was actually a couple this would be a romantic moment. So they're having a moment and it's stirring up some old feelings. But that's what they are Maya: old feelings," she said.

"Don't stirred up old feelings feel just like current feelings?" I asked her.

"Yeah, but as soon as you stop stirring them up, they sink right back down to where they belong." Haley said.

She took me by the hand and lead me out of the stall.

"I don't know. Everything happens for a reason right? Maybe the universe is stirring them up for a reason." I supposed.

"What reason is that?" Haley asked.

"Maybe the universe wants me to break up with her." Just saying it out loud made my heart sink. I hated the words as soon as they left my mouth.

"Maya, Why would you do that? Riley adores you." Haley said.

"What if she adores him more?" I asked.

"There's no way that's true." Haley said.

"You saw how they were looking at each other." I argued.

"Yeah, and I saw the way her eyes lit up when she talked about you." Haley said.

"She talks to you about me?" I asked, surprised.

"Yeah, when I ran into her while she was prom shopping." Haley said.

"Wait, you were with Riley and Lucas while they were shopping?" I asked her.

"Yeah, for a little while."

"Did anything happen between them?" I asked.

"I doubt it. Riley encouraged me to ask Lucas to prom. She literally pushed me out of the fitting room stall in his direction," Haley explained.

Well, that sounds like classic Riley. Push a girl who she thinks likes a guy in that guy's direction. She did that to me twice. First with Josh. Then with Lucas. Now she pushed Haley onto Lucas. I wonder why she does that. Although I guess I know, because I did the same thing to her when I pushed her into his lap on the subway.

"Why would she do that for me if she wanted Lucas for herself?" Haley rationalized the situation.

Hey, Riley pushed me towards Lucas too, Haley. But that doesn't mean she didn't want him for herself. But I couldn't tell her that. I don't want to crush her hope for her and Lucas.

"I have an idea." Haley announced.

"I sure hope it's better than my idea." I said, because breaking up with Riley is not something I'm emotionally prepared to do.

"Right now they're just dancing and talking and getting some old feelings stirred up, but they can't take it any further than that if we keep them apart."

Well, well, Haley. I didn't take you for a schemer.

"Let's work together," she proposed. "After this song is over, you keep Riley away from Lucas, and I keep Lucas away from Riley."

She extended her to shake on it. "Deal?"

I shook her hand. "Sounds like a good plan to me." I agreed.

"Good," She grabbed a paper towel. "Now you can stop crying because your eye makeup is goals and I'm not gonna let these tears ruin it," she said as she gently

dabbed around my eyes, carefully so not to smudge anything. I smiled at her kindness.

"Thank you, Haley." I said.

"No problem."

I hugged her. "You're a good friend."

"I try," she said.


	34. Chapter 34

(Author's Note: Peter! I'm so glad you're still reading my story! And I'm glad you still like it. I'm also glad that I'm getting a positive reaction to this storyline with Haley. I always thought Haley should have gotten more lines when she was on the show.)

Riley's POV

"You're right. We are both lucky," Lucas agreed.

"But please just answer one question for me," he continued.

"Lucas-"

"Just tell me this one thing and I won't talk about it anymore," he promised.

"What is it?" I asked.

He looked me in the eye.

"Is there a part of you that still has feelings for me?"

Whoa.

I stopped dancing with him. He continued looking into my eyes, awaiting my response.

"Don't ask me that, Lucas."

"I already did."

"We're friends, Lucas."

"So you feel the same way about me as you feel about Farkle?"

"You're not being fair to me."

"If you're in denial of your own feelings, then you're not being fair to yourself," he said.

"You're supposed to be my friend. You're supposed to be Maya's friend too. So be a good friend Lucas, and respect our relationship." That's my answer.

"Look me in the eye, Riley, and tell me you feel the same way about me as you do about the rest of your friends." He pressed.

I looked into his eyes. He has such kind eyes. But I couldn't say it. Why can't I just say it? Instead, what came out was:

"You're trying to confuse me."

"No, I'm not. I just want you to be honest with me, and with yourself," Lucas said.

"Lucas, my feelings are my feelings. I don't owe you any explanations for them." I said.

He's starting to get on my nerves. I went off on him.

"I don't hear you confessing any of your feelings," I called him out.

Oh no, why did I say that? He looked like he was about to say something, so I quickly followed with : "And I don't want to know."

"Riley-"

"No."

"But Riley,-"

"No!"

"Of course I still have feelings for you!" He blurted out.

And suddenly it felt like all the air had been sucked out the room. Like we were in a vacuum.

"My question is, how do you feel about me?" He added.

Breathe, Riley. Breathe. I swear the air in here just disappeared.

"I need air" I said and walked away. He tried to follow me but Haley grabbed him by the arm and pulled him back towards the dance floor. Thank goodness for you, Haley.

I felt a little dizzy, but when I got outside, the cool summer night's breeze was steadying. I spotted a bench at a bus stop and walked over and sat down. I held my head with my elbows on my knees and took some deep breaths. Pull yourself together, Riley. You can't just pass out every time someone reveals they have feelings for you.

Maya's POV

When I returned from the dance floor, I scanned the room looking for Riley. Farkle and Smackle were dancing together. Lucas and Haley were dancing together. No sign of Riley anywhere. I went over to Lucas and Haley.

"What'd ya do with my girl?" I asked Huckleberry.

"She said she needed to get some air." He replied, pointing towards the door.

I shot him a death glare. He's lucky his suit is so nice, otherwise I would have grabbed him by the shirt.

He put up his hands and played innocent.

"What? I didn't do anything," he insisted.

Haley subtly nodded towards the door.

She clearly had Lucas under control, so I left to go find Riley.

I spotted her sitting at the bus stop. I walked over and sat down next to her.

"Riles?"

She looked up and smiled. "Peaches"

I put my arm around her.

"Are you okay?" I asked.

"Yeah, I just wasn't feeling well in there," she said.

"I'll take you home." I said

She shook her head. "No, it's okay. The fresh air is helping."

"Honey?"

She looked at me.

"Did Lucas say or do something-"

"No," she quickly answered before I could finish the question.

"Riley, you can tell me-"

"No," she replied quickly again. A little too quickly.

"If he-" I started.

"He was just getting on my nerves a little," she interrupted. "But it's okay. Don't worry about it," she continued.

She put on a smile, but her eyes were telling a different story.

"I'm fine."

When a girl says she's fine, she's usually not fine at all.

"Are you sure?"

She took my face in her hands and pulled me closer for a kiss.

"I'm fine, Maya. Let's go back inside." She took my hand and lead me back into the venue.

Riley's POV

We joined our friends back on the dance floor. Maya put her arms around me. Lucas spotted me, but Haley was keeping him occupied. Farkle and Smackle danced their way over to us. "Hey! I'm having an after party at my house," Farkle said.

"Isn't it already passed your bedtime, Farkle?" Maya teased him.

"Yeah, but it's okay. I drank coffee today," he said, grinning widely.

"So will I see you ladies there?" Farkle asked.

Maya and I looked at each other.

"Are you feeling up to it?" she checked with me.

"Yeah, it sounds like fun," I nodded.

"Great, my house at ten," Farkle said.

"It STARTS at ten?" I exclaimed.

Maya giggled at my outburst.

"Who even heard of such a thing?"

"Well it IS an after party, Riley. Prom is almost over and it's already after nine now," Farkle said.

"It starts at ten," I complained.

"That bothers you, doesn't it?" Maya asked me.

"My parents told me to be home by eleven."

"Well, we might be a little late, but don't worry I'll write you a late pass," Maya winked at me.

"I don't think they'll mind if we're at Farkle's house anyway. I'll just text my dad," I said.

"So who else is coming to your party, Farkle?" I asked.

"I invited our whole class," he said.

Well, I guess that means Lucas will be there.

"Is Lucas coming?" I asked. Maya gave me a weird look when I asked that.

"Of course he is," Farkle answered.

"Is Haley coming?" Maya asked.

"Yeah. Everyone's coming. Everyone knows my parties are the best," Farkle said, proudly.

"They really are," Maya agreed.

"Last time, I got two penguins," she smiled.


	35. Chapter 35

(Authors Note: I'm sorry it's been awhile since my last update. I've been in Los Angeles the past week because I went to a live taping of Girl Meets World! I got to be in the audience for the Girl Meets Sweet Sixteen episode that will air sometime in September, I believe. It was amazing. I met Rowan, Sabrina, Ben, and Ceci. I posted photos and videos from the taping on my fan account on instagram, it's girlmeetsfortunecookie :-)

Maya's POV

Riley and I followed Farkle and Smackle into the lobby of his high-rise. It was way fancier than any of our apartment buildings. This one had a friendly doorman and marble floors. Lucas and Haley followed behind us.

"The passenger elevator is closed right now for scheduled maintenance, so we have to take the service elevator," Farkle said.

"You have two different elevators?" I asked.

"Yeah most buildings, like this do. The main one leaves you at the front door of the apartment, and the service leaves you at the back door," Farkle explained.

We walked into the service elevator where the operator greeted Farkle. They exchanged friendly conversation. His name was Chris and he asked us all how we enjoyed prom. Seems like a nice guy.

"Farkle, what's a service elevator for? Why is it called that?" Riley asked.

He answered, "It's for service employees of residents to access the apartments, like repairmen, contractors doing renovations, deliveries, dog walkers, nannies, housekeepers-"

"You have a housekeeper?!" I asked, surprised even though I shouldn't be.

"Yeah, both of my parents are really busy so the housekeeper helps out. My parents aren't even home tonight." Farkle explained.

"What? Where are they?" Riley asked.

"My dad is out of town on a business trip. My mom is uptown at some kind of fundraising gala for an organization that they support. She'll be home later on tonight, just not sure when," he explained.

"Does she know that we're coming over?" Ranger Rick asked. How typical of Mr. Perfect to make sure we're abiding by the rules.

"She knows. She trusts me, and she knows we're all good kids, well except Maya," Farkle remarked.

I hit his arm.

"Ow."

"You had it coming," I said.

We walked into Farkle's huge penthouse condo. The service entrance lead us into his spacious, beautiful kitchen. I'm pretty sure my entire apartment could fit into his kitchen. Smackle helped him grab some snacks and sodas for everyone. He carried them through the swinging door into what seemed to be the living room. He turned on the tv to a music channel.

"If you guys, want to check out the rooftop, its two floors up, just go up the main stairs. I'm going to head down and bring up the rest of our classmates," Farkle said. "Mi casa es su casa! Enjoy."

I took Riley by the hand and lead her toward the main stairs, but she was reluctant to follow.

"Don't you want to check out the rooftop, Riles?" I asked.

"I don't know, Maya. We are really, really high up." She responded, unsure.

"Exactly. We can probably see the whole city from here," I said.

"I don't know if it's a good idea, since I was feeling dizzy earlier," Riley said.

I nodded. "You're right. It's too high, and the air is too thin." I agreed.

"I'll make it up to you. We'll go to the Top of the Rock or something," she offered.

"Don't even worry about it, honey." I said.

"I'm gonna go to the bathroom." Riley said, as she turned and wandered down the hall.

"Okay, I'll just be in here with-," I returned to the living room and saw that it was just me and Haley. "Uh oh."

"Let me guess, Lucas went to the bathroom?," I addressed Haley.

"I don't suppose Riley went to a different bathroom." Haley hoped.

"Could be, this place is a mansion. Who knows how many bathrooms there are? Where's Smackle?" I asked.

"Getting more drinks and snacks," Haley answered.

"Well, I guess our plan is failing at the moment." I said

"I guess keeping them away from each other is going to be harder than I thought." Haley said.

"I would go try to find him, but I don't even know where anything is and this place seems endless," she added.

"I've been here before. It was awhile ago, but I think I remember where to find a bathroom. I'll go look." I volunteered.

Riley's POV

I finally found the bathroom after opening three different doors that turned out to be two closets and a staircase. I could tell because it had a mirror and a sink in front of the door, but the door was locked. I waited, and out came Lucas. Of course. Of course we would both have to go to the bathroom at the same time, because the universe hates me.

He washed his hands quickly. I tried to walk behind him but he stepped back as he was drying his hands, so that he was directly in my path. "You never answered my question," he said.

I sighed and tried to walk around him, but he grabbed my hand and held onto it.

"Please, Riley."

"You shouldn't be holding my hand, Lucas" I said.

Maya's POV

I heard Lucas and Riley talking and followed their voices. I was going to turn into the powder room, but I stopped abruptly. I could see their reflections in the mirror from the hallway. I blinked. Nope, still there. Am I really seeing this? Are they holding hands?

"I'm so tired of being 'Lucas the good', always doing what I should do. It's Lucas time," he said.

"No, Lucas. It's not. You know when Lucas time was? Lucas time was when I spent ten months waiting for you to ask me to the semi-formal. I hoped for some big romantic gesture, and I got it, from Charlie Gardner. Not from you. That was Lucas time. You should have asked me to the semi-formal instead of taking me for granted." Riley said.

WHOA. Riley, as your best friend, I am so proud of you for sticking up for yourself and telling him off right now. As your girlfriend, I can't believe you still resent Lucas for that. It seems like it was ages ago. Why does that still bother you so much?

"You're right, Riley. It's like your dad taught us. History is filled with missed opportunities," Lucas said.

"Yeah. Ya know what else he taught us? That every event in history comes from people feeling something, then acting on those feelings," Riley said.

Lucas stepped closer to Riley. He still held onto her hand, and he took her face and held it with his free hand. Huckleberry, how could do this to me? Riley, why are you letting him?

"Or sometimes," Riley continued. "Being smart enough not to." She pulled his hand away from her face and shook her other hand free from his grasp. She walked around him into the bathroom and closed the door. Lucas kicked the wastebasket in frustration.

I quickly hid in a closet as he started to leave the powder room. I listened as his footsteps grew distant. I waited until I heard Riley come out and I waited for her footsteps to grow distant as well. When I knew I wasn't within ear shot of anyone I let go of the tears I was holding back. I sobbed to myself. Now I knew, and so did he. That she really did still have feelings for him and was just choosing not to act on them. I suppose I should be happy that she's choosing me, but it's a bittersweet victory at best.


	36. Chapter 36

(Author's note: I apologize in advance if the end of this chapter seems like its not okay for a teen rating.)

Maya's POV

I left the closet and went into the powder room. I looked in the mirror and saw what I expected. My eye makeup was running everywhere from crying.

"Oh well. Prom is over anyway."

I washed the makeup off of my face in the sink. I wasn't quite ready to let myself be in the same room as Lucas, because if I did I might just punch that Hopalong in the face.

Oh, who am I kidding? I can't even reach his face.

I wandered around for a bit and discovered a staircase behind a door. Maybe these are the service stairs to match the service elevator? I found it all rather strange, that employees have a separate elevator, a separate stairway, and a separate entrance. How segregated the world of the one percent must be. It's truly unbelievable that Farkle and I could come from such opposite backgrounds and somehow be such good friends.

I climbed the stairs up one level and exited the staircase. It was dark. To the right it seemed like there was a large room with a grand piano. I walked to the left into a room with an extremely high ceiling. I couldn't find the light switch so I turned on the flashlight in my smartphone. I walked across the room and found the light switch on the other side.

I flipped the switch, illuminating what appeared to be a lavishly decorated conference room. There was a large round table surrounded by chairs underneath a huge chandelier. The was a fireplace in one of the walls with a large mirror hanging above it. The other walls held huge, beautiful paintings. I was mesmerized by the art. Who knew Mr. Minkus was an art collector? In the corner, a portion of the wall was covered by a curtain. I pulled back the curtain and discovered a bay window. Perfect.

There was a hidden door next to the light switch. It didn't look like a door. It looked just like the wall, but you could see the faint outline of the doorway gap. I pushed it and entered into a small hallway. On my right, there was a little alcove like area that appeared to function as a small kitchen to the conference room. On my left was a staircase. Another one? No, wait, I must be back at the main stairs. How does Farkle not get lost in his own home?

I explored the alcove kitchen and stumbled upon a full bar, completely open and accessible. Wow. Mrs. Minkus must really trust Farkle. "She knows we're good kids" he said.

"Well, except Maya."

Riley's POV

When I got back to the living room, more guests had arrived. Haley was taking a selfie with Jade by the fireplace.

"Hey Haley," I said.

She got up to talk to me.

"Have you seen Maya?" I asked her.

"Last time I saw her, she was going to look for you," Haley said.

"Oh," I looked at my phone to try to call Maya, but I couldn't. "Well, this place is huge, and I have terrible service in here."

"Riley, can I ask you something?"

"Sure, Haley."

"Well, I don't really know how to phrase this without sounding judgmental..." She trailed off.

"What is it, Haley?" I asked, concerned that I've upset her in some way.

"What are you doing, Riley?" She asked.

"What do you mean?" I questioned her.

"With Lucas. With Maya. With pushing me on Lucas. This whole night. What are you doing, Riley?" Haley asked in an accusatory tone.

I didn't really know how to approach her questions. "Well, what is it you think I'm doing?" I responded.

"I don't know. For a second, I thought you were my friend." Haley said.

Ouch. That really made me feel bad. It was never my intention to betray Haley in any way. I put my hand on her shoulder.

"Haley, I am your friend, and tonight has been really weird and confusing. Can you just trust that I know what I'm doing?" I said.

Haley laughed.

"Why are you laughing?"

"Did you really just ask me to trust that you know what you're doing after you basically admitted to being confused?" She asked incredulously.

She got me there. Maybe she's right. Maybe I don't know what I'm doing.

I need Maya.

And suddenly a pair of arms wrapped themselves around my waist in an embrace I'd recognize anywhere. It's like she was reading my mind. She planted a kiss on the back of my neck. I smiled.

"Peaches, I was just about to go looking for you." I said.

"I found you first." Maya looked over my shoulder at Haley.

"Sorry, did I interrupt something?" She asked.

"No. We were just chatting." I answered quickly before Haley could.

"Maya," Haley started. Oh boy. What is she going to say?

"What happened to your eye make up?" Haley asked. I turned my head to look at Maya and noticed her eye makeup was gone.

She looked at me and then looked back at Haley.

"Oh, um, you know, it was starting to itch and it was just irritating me so I washed it off," Maya explained.

Haley raised her eyebrows, skeptically. She doesn't buy Maya's answer.

But what other explanation could there be? I searched Maya's face for clues. Her eyes do look a little red. Could she have been crying?

"Peaches, are you okay?" I asked.

She smiled. "Of course, I am. I have a beautiful prom queen in my arms, who I am stealing right now."

She pulled me away. I waved goodbye to Haley.

"Where are we going?"

"I want to show you something," she said.

Something is not the rooftop, is it?" I asked.

"Nope. It's better," she said.

Maya's POV

I took Riley by the hand and lead her up the service stairway to the conference room that I had stumbled upon earlier.

"Wow," she said. "Look at this chandelier, look at this art,"

"And" I added, pulling back the curtain in the corner. "Look at this bay window."

Riley smiled and said "Bay window. Bay window right now."

The light switch had a dimmer, so I turned the lights down low. I sat down in the bay window and patted my lap for her to join me. She sat down on my lap, and I wrapped my arms around her. Finally. She's in my arms and we're sitting in a bay window, and Lucas can't take her away from me.

I started to kiss her neck softly. She seemed to like it. She's taller than me, so when she's sitting on my lap, the bottom of her neck is at the perfect height for my lips. I started to suck on her neck softly.

"Peaches, are you trying to give me a hickie?"

"I'm marking my territory," I teased.

"You don't have to, love. Everyone already knows I belong to you," she said. I don't know if I agree. I think Lucas needs could use a reminder.

I sucked on her neck a little harder. She let out a cute, quiet moan.

"Peaches, not my neck, it'll be hard to hide it from my parents," she complained. Yes, indeed. Hard to hide from everyone. Like Lucas.

"But your neck is where it feels good." I argued.

I carefully picked her up from my lap, layed her down across the bay window, and straddled her. I resumed kissing and sucking on her neck.

"Peaches, are you trying to seduce me?" she asked.

"Always" I replied, deviously.

Riley's POV

Maya was driving me crazy and I was enjoying every minute of it. She knows exactly how to kiss me and it overloads my senses in the best possible way. She unzipped my dress and ran her hand down my back, giving me goosebumps. Not that I'm complaining but, how far is she planning to take this?

"Peaches?"

"Yeah, sunshine?"

"Are we going really going to be that cliche couple who loses their virginity to each other on prom night?"

"Of course we are. I'm tired of being groundbreaking. Let's be cliche, just this once," Maya answered. I couldn't help but smile. I love her witty comebacks.

"Are we really going to get naked in the window though?" I asked.

"This building is way taller than all the neighboring ones. Nobody can even see us up here," she argued. This is true.

Her hand found it's way to my bra. She was going to try for second base. Well, you can't slide into second without touching first. I needed her lips on mine. Now. I grabbed her face and started to make out with her passionately. She was kissing me harder than usual. I didn't mind it at all. But something was definitely off about it. It still felt good. But something was different. She doesn't taste like Peaches. I pulled away from our kiss, and then I could smell it on her breath. Before it was masked by her perfume, but now my nose was close enough to her mouth to tell.

"Maya, have you been drinking?" I asked her.

She looked down, and then her gaze wandered out the window. Her eyes were trying to avoid the question. Maybe that's why her eyes looked a little red.

"Maya."

"Yes," she admitted.

"How much?"

"Not much."

"Where did you even get it from?" I asked her.

"The little room next to this one has a bar."

"Maya!" I sat up and zippered my dress.

"Are you mad?" She asked, with her adorable, sad eyes, that make me melt every time. I want to be mad. But she knows I can't be when she does that.

"Why were you drinking?" I questioned her.

"I just saw the bar and got curious and it was just an impulsive decision."

Maya can't help herself when it comes to breaking the rules sometimes. This I've always known about her. She's a wildflower.

"We can't continue like this," I said.

"But weren't we having fun?" she asked.

"I feel like I'm taking advantage of you," I said.

"But I'm the one being aggressive!" she argued.

"Yeah, just like I was the night I got kicked out, and you put the brakes on it because I was vulnerable, and you were right." I replied.

"Well, I could take you to the next room and you could do a shot or two, to get on my level," she said with a smirk and a wink. Wow, drunk Maya is a flirt.

"Spoken like a true bad influence," I said.

"Is that a yes?" she hoped.

"Are you crazy? We can't both be drinking. One of us has to make sure we get home okay. Besides, hooking up in here can't possibly be a good idea, when Farkle's mom could come home at any moment and walk in on us." Someone has to be rational here.

"Yeah, she'd probably tell our parents." Maya supposed.

"And then we'd be screwed." I said.

Maya started giggling uncontrollably.

"What?"

She said through her giggling, "We'd be screwed, literally. Screwed for getting caught screwing," she laughed even harder.

I slapped her on the arm for making a dirty joke.

"Maya!" I scolded. "This is a teen rated story! You're not supposed to be drinking, and we're not supposed to be screwing until the continuation!"

"Oooh, is that one gonna be rated M for Mature? 'Cause I really hope so," she winked.

I slapped her arm again. She resumed giggling. Well, at least Maya is a happy drunk. I bet Lucas would probably be an angry drunk.

She was still giggling. I took her hand in mine.

"The sound of your laughter is my favorite sound, even when you're drunk," I said, sincerely. Her giggling settled into a blushing smile and she kissed my hand.

"I love you," she said.

"I love you, too."


	37. Chapter 37

(Author's Note: I don't mean to ever leave you guys hanging. I just post each chapter as I finish it, and some chapters come out more easily than others. As always, thanks for reading, and thanks to everyone who has been writing reviews lately! I really appreciate hearing feedback from readers.)

RIley's POV

I insisted that we return to the party because Farkle was probably back by now and wondering where we went. As we entered the service stairway she stopped me on the landing. Her wide eyes stared at my neck in shock. "Oh, Riles!"

"What?"

She covered her mouth with her hand and shook her head.

"What's wrong, Maya?" I asked.

"Looks like I did some serious damage to your neck," she said. She pulled out her phone and opened the front facing camera and handed it to me so I could see. OMG!

I gasped. "WHOA! Maya! It looks like you beat me up!"

"But I was only trying to eat you up," she said. I blushed at her comment.

"Peaches, that sounded so naughty," And so hot. I smiled.

She looked surprised by her own her words. "Wow, that WAS naughty. I didn't even mean to be naughty, it just came out." We both giggled.

She loosened my hair to let it down and tried to hide my neck with my hair.

"Your hair kind of covers it. But it will probably still be noticeable. I'm sorry, Pumpkin," she said.

"You are NOT," I called her bluff.

"You're right, I'm not sorry," she smirked.

"I'm not sorry either. I really enjoyed it," I smiled at her.

She looked at me with such passion, and so much desire, that part of me wanted to surrender myself to her completely, but I couldn't. Not when she's been drinking. I want our first time to be something that we can both remember clearly in the morning.

When we got back to the living room, everyone was sitting around coffee table, coupled up with their dates: Farkle and Smackle, Lucas and Haley, Darby and Yogi, Sarah and Wyatt, Jade and Dave.

Farkle saw us walk in. "You've returned just in time. We were just about to start playing the relationships game."

"Is that like the couples game?" I asked. Maya and I sat down next to Farkle and across the table from Lucas and Haley.

"Kind of. In this game, the red cards are meant to be asked to your partner, and the blue cards are meant to be asked to your friends. If you get a blue card you can choose any player in the game to ask the question to," Farkle explained the rules.

Farkle drew the first card. It was a red card. "Where do you see your relationship in five years?" He read the card to Smackle.

Smackle replied, "I see myself accepting the Nobel prize for physics and you'll be there as my arm candy."

"Isadora, it said five years, not fifteen," Farkle said.

"Well dearest, I guess we'll be in college in five years. Do you think we'll be at the same one?" Smackle asked Farkle.

"I can see us both at Princeton," Farkle said, confidently.

"But what about MIT?" Smackle asked.

"And what about Cooper Union?" Maya asked.

"What's Cooper Union?" Both Smackle and I asked at the same time.

"It's a school for arts and sciences in the east village that I was telling Maya about," Farkle explained.

"You never told me about it," Smackle said.

I turned to Maya, "You never told me about it either."

"Well, I just heard about it from Farkle like two days ago," Maya said.

I smiled at her. "I think it's great that you're thinking about art schools for college," I told her.

"You do?" she asked.

"Yeah," I replied squeezing her hand.

"Even if it means that we would end up at different schools?" she asked.

"Cooper Union is in the is NYU. Maybe I could go there, just like Josh. Then I could really be a Gamma Gamma girl!" I said, excitedly.

"Well, we have five years to figure out our college plans." Farkle said, holding out the box of cards. "Who wants to go next?"

Maya's POV

Haley took the box of cards from Farkle. She pulled out a red card. "If your partner were an animal, which animal would he or she be?" she read the card.

She looked at Lucas, "You're strong and athletic, like a horse. You seem like a horse to me," she said. Lucas smiled. "Back in Texas, I actually helped a horse give birth."

"Wow! Really?" she asked.

Lucas nodded. "Yeah. It inspired me to want to become a veterinarian someday."

"That's such a beautiful ambition," Haley replied, in admiration.

"Thank you," Lucas said, still smiling.

I haven't seen Lucas smile this much at someone that wasn't me or Riley. Even though I'm pissed at him right now, I'm glad he found someone who can make him smile again, and I'm REALLY glad that someone isn't my girlfriend.

"Which animal would you think I am?" she asked him.

"You strike me as a golden retriever," Lucas said.

Haley's eyes lit up. "I have a golden retriever!"

OMG this is just adorable. They're so cute together. I ship it.

"You do?"

"Yeah, her name is Daisy."

"I'm definitely a dog person," Lucas said.

"She's the sweetest dog. You'll have to come over and meet her sometime," Haley suggested.

"I'd love that," Lucas nodded.

I looked over to see if I could detect any jealousy vibes from Riley, but her expression mirrored my own. She seemed to be just as happy for Lucas and Haley as I was.

Riley leaned forward to take the box of cards from Haley. As she did, her hair shifted, revealing the huge, dark hickey I left on her neck. Everyone seemed to react simultaneously with a gasp. The look of shock and dismay on Lucas's face was priceless.

"So that's what you two were off doing when you disappeared from the party," Darby commented.

Riley and I looked at each other and blushed.

"Riley and Maya. They're like fiyah," Sarah remarked.

I giggled. Haha, I love Sarah. "Thanks, Sarah" I said.

Riley pulled out a red card. I leaned in to read it with her. We both read it at the same time and looked at each other. I grabbed the card before she could read it out loud.

"I want to ask this question to Lucas," I said.

"No, Maya," Riley said firmly.

"Yes." I insisted.

"It's a red card. We're supposed to ask each other," Riley argued.

"I don't follow the rules. I'm Maya."

"Well, let's hear the question," Lucas requested.

"Would you ever pursue a romance with someone that one of your friends was romantically involved with?"

"That is not the question," Lucas refused to believe me.

"It is the question." I showed him the card.

He read it, "Huh," he said.

"Huh," Farkle echoed.

"That seems like an odd question to be on a red card," Smackle commented.

"Maybe it's a misprint," Farkle supposed.

"Yeah, it sounds like it should be on a blue card," I reasoned. "That's why I'm asking Lucas."

"It's still a red card, Maya," Lucas said.

"I'm still asking you, Huckleberry." I insisted.

"Last time I checked, I wasn't dating you anymore, so I don't have to answer," he replied smugly.

Oooooh. Burn. I'll get you for that, Huckleberry.

I reluctantly turned to Riley, and repeated the question.

"Would you ever pursue a romance with someone that one of your friends was romantically involved with?" She looked at me while I was reading her the question, but then she turned to look at Haley while she answered the question. Haley watched Riley as she answered.

"No," Riley shook her head. "No, I wouldn't," she said, in Haley's direction. Haley gave Riley a subtle smile of understanding.


	38. Chapter 38

(I'm so sorry that I haven't updated in weeks. August has been hectic for me, but it's not just that. The writer's block was real. It's like I knew what my ideas were for the continuation but I didn't know how to get from here to there, but I'm working it out. I know you're all going to be mad at me for the way I'm leaving this chapter, but I promise it won't take me as long to update this time.)

Riley's POV

Our game was interrupted when Farkle's mom walked in. Despite the fact that Farkle said she knew we were coming over, she looked completely taken by surprise.

"Farkle, I don't remember us planning on having guests tonight," Mrs. Minkus said.

"But I told you I was inviting my friends over after prom," Farkle said.

"You did?" She looked perplexed.

"Yeah, and you said you were okay with it," he replied.

"When?" She questioned.

Farkle pulled out his phone and showed her. "I sent you this email earlier, and you replied 'okay' to it."

Email? Farkle emails his parents?

"You sent me an email?" She asked, confused.

"Well you weren't answering your phone or responding to my texts, so I had to," he explained.

"I'm sorry, Farkle. I've just had a really busy day and I didn't see your texts. My personal assistant responds to my emails and she failed to mention this to me," she answered.

Wow. My mom is busy too, but she's never too busy to respond to my texts or calls. I can't imagine how frustrating it must be for Farkle to not be able to communicate with his parents because of their schedules.

Mrs. Minkus looked at all of us and smiled.

"Everyone looks so beautiful and handsome." She looked at Farkle. "And you look absolutely stunning in this suit. Did you pick this out yourself?"

"No, actually, Maya picked it out for me," Farkle smiled at Maya.

"Good job, Maya! Can you please dress my husband like this too?" Mrs. Minkus asked.

"Sure, anytime." Maya smiled at her.

Mrs. Minkus insisted on taking some pictures of us and we obliged. Then she told us we should be getting home because it was getting late and she had to wake up early tomorrow.

"It's too late, I don't want any of you taking the subway at this time," she said handing Farkle a stack of cash. "This should cover everyone's taxis."

We all went down to the lobby and waited for the doorman to hail us each a cab.

"You're staying at my house tonight, right?" I asked Maya, hopefully. I knew the night was ending, but I didn't want it to.

She pondered for a moment.

"I want to, but I also don't want to get killed when your parents see what I did to your neck," she said.

I took out my phone and texted my dad. "On our way home now. U awake?"

I waited and saw that it was delivered but it hadn't been seen yet.

"I think my parents are probably going to be asleep already by the time we get home," I said.

"Ok, so what's our plan if they're not?" Maya asked.

"We will tell them that Riley Superclutz was trying to bust a move and she should not have because she tripped and fell and landed on her neck," I suggested.

Maya burst into laughter. "Who lands on their neck?"

I shrugged. "Giraffes probably do," maybe…

Maya continued giggling as she slid into the backseat of our cab. I joined her and told the driver my address.

Maya's POV

I slid my hand into hers and held Riley's hand.

"Hey Riles," I said

"Yeah, Peaches?" she answered.

"Thanks for being my prom date," I said. I smiled at her. She smiled back at me.

"Thanks for asking me. Prom is special and I'm really glad I got to share it with you."

She slid over closer to me and put her arm around me. I rested my head on her shoulder for the rest of the cab ride.

The cab pulled up and we headed into Riley's house. We went through the front door, and quietly walked up to her room.

She handed me some pajamas and I started to head out of her room.

"Peaches? Where are you going?" she asked.

"Riles, that one shoulder dress has been teasing me all night. If I see both of your shoulders, I just don't know what I'll do," I replied.

"Says the girl who's dress is a halter top. You've been teasing me with both shoulders yourself," she said.

"Riles, if you undress in front of me right now, I can't promise I'll be able to keep my hands to myself," I warned.

"But I need you to undress me."

What…did…she…just…say?

"Uh. Could you repeat that, please?" I asked.

"Maya, I need you to undress me," Riley said.

I think my jaw was on the floor, but I could feel an involuntary grin spread across my face. She rolled her eyes at me.

"Seriously, Maya. I can't reach the zipper."

I dropped the pajamas on the floor and walked up behind her. Her zipper wasn't completely zipped all the way. I guess when she closed it after she discovered I had been drinking she couldn't reach all the way up. I kissed her bare shoulder softly as I slowly pulled her zipper down. I slid the one strap off of her other shoulder and watched the dress fall to her feet. I gently kissed her newly undressed shoulder and wrapped my arms around her waist. I pulled her closer and kissed the back of her neck. She turned around in my embrace and kissed me on the lips. When we pulled away from our kiss, she looked at me with a mischievous grin.

"Do you need help getting out of yours?" she asked.

I nodded. I really didn't. My zipper was easy to reach. But I certainly wasn't going to refuse.

She pulled open my zipper and I slid the halter top over my head and let it drop down next to her dress. We were both wearing strapless bras. Hers was purple of course. I knew my eyes were lingering but I could feel her gaze lingering too.

"You're so beautiful," I told her.

She blushed and looked away. "It's nothing you haven't seen before."

"I've never seen you like this before," I disagreed.

"We've changed in front of each other in the locker room plenty of times," she said.

"Yeah, but never like this, while we were alone, in the dark. Just you and me and the moonlight," I said. Okay, so maybe it was actually a streetlight, but whatever light it was coming in through the bay window, she looked amazing in it.

Her eyes shifted to the door. She stepped over our dresses and walked over to her desk. She carefully placed her chair in front of the door, under the doorknob.

"There. Now it really is just you and me and the moonlight." she said.


	39. Chapter 39

(sorry again if this is too much for a teen rated story.)

Riley's POV

I looked at Maya and admired her in the moonlight. I knew exactly what I wanted to do to her.

I wrapped my arms around Maya and pulled her in for a kiss. While we were kissing I took her arms and placed them up around my neck. I reached down and grabbed the back of her thighs and lifted her up. She held on to my shoulders and wrapped her legs around me. I carried her to my bed and gently put her down on it. She pulled me down onto the bed on top of her. I straddled her while we continued making out. I was actually really proud of myself for pulling that off without falling or dropping her.

She ran her hands up and down my back. I kissed her neck, softly at first. But then harder. And then I started sucking on her neck. She moaned softly. Did she think I was going to let her get away with giving me this huge hickey and not give her one back? Hehe.

Maya's POV

Oooh I see what's going on here. She's giving me a revenge hickey. I'm not complaining. I don't care if she marks up my neck. It feels amazing. I glided my hands down her back and gently squeezed her butt. After sucking on my neck, she kissed her way down my chest and stopped right above my bra. She looked up at me, her eyes asking permission. Honestly, things were moving fast, and I wasn't sure if I was ready or not, but this strapless bra was so uncomfortable, I really wanted to get out of it. I sat up to make it easier for her.

Riley POV

When I looked up at Maya, her face was hard to read. She looked like she was enjoying it but also like she was hesitant. But she sat up, and I took to this to mean she wanted me to unfasten her bra. I reached around her and unfastened it. I felt like I was unwrapping a present on Christmas morning. Hello, beautiful, topless Maya. I've been thinking about those since I caught a glimpse of them in the mirror when she was changing that night in her room.

I reached to touch one of her breasts but she swatted my hand. I reached again, and this time she intercepted my hand with her own and held it hostage. I reached with my other hand and she intercepted that one too, holding onto both of my hands.

"Nope." she denied me.

"But-" I started.

"No." she shook her head.

"But they're so pretty!" I whined.

"I showed you mine. Now you have to show me yours," she smiled, playfully.

Okay, I guess that's fair. She let go of my hands and unfastened my purple strapless bra.

Maya's POV

I removed her bra and admired the beauty it revealed. There were so many things I wanted to do to her, but strangely enough the first thing that came to mind, was drawing her. Blame it on the artist in me, but I wish I could freeze time and draw her just as she is right now. The way her hair fell around her bare shoulders. The way the streetlight sparkled in her eyes. The way the shadows fell around her face, making her dimples more pronounced than usual. Maybe I can sketch her from memory in the morning. Another page in the sketchbook full of Riley.

Riley's POV

We admired each other with our eyes for a few moments, until our eyes met, and when they did, I don't think I had ever wanted her more than in that moment. I attempted to touch her again but she intercepted my hand again, and this time she kissed it. She still seemed hesitant, and I started to wonder if I was coming on too strong.

"Peaches."

"Yeah?"

"Are you okay?"

She nodded. I'm not buying it. She doesn't seem okay at all.

"It seems like you don't want me to touch you. Am I doing something wrong? Did I hurt you?" I asked, concerned.

"No, Honey. You're perfect," she said, looking away.

Maya's POV

She's perfect and I don't deserve her. She's perfect and He's Mr. Perfect. They would have been Mr. and Mrs. Perfect together. Ugh. Stop it, Maya. Why is this what you're thinking about right now? What's wrong with you?-

"Maya," she interrupted my train of thoughts.

"Yeah?"

"Where are you?"

Riley's POV

Maya pulled away and slid backwards on the bed, leaning back against the headboard. Oh no, I must have done something wrong. I wish I knew what, so I could undo it. Maybe she doesn't like it when I'm aggressive. Maybe she would prefer to be the dominant one. Gosh, why does this have to be so complicated?

"Maya, what's wrong?" I asked.

Maya's POV

I know you still have feelings for Lucas. What if you regret this? What if you end up wishing your first time had been with him instead? What if we were only meant to be best friends and we've upset the universe? Where did all this anxiety come from? What is wrong with me right now? But I don't dare speak any of the thoughts swirling around my mind. So instead I say:

"I'm scared."

"I'm nervous too, Love" she replied.

It's not nerves, but I'd rather let her believe it is. He's still coming between us, even when he's not in the room. I just don't know what to do about it. So instead I say:

"I'm sorry. I don't think I can do this right now."

"Oh, Peaches. You don't have to be sorry." I was afraid she would be disappointed but she was pure compassion.

"I'm sorry if you feel like I lead you on. I know that I said I wanted to earlier tonight," I explained.

" And you have every right to change your mind. Besides, I figured the alcohol had something to do with it." she said. Why is she so amazing?

"Have I let you down?" I asked her.

"No, Peaches. How could you ever let me down?" She answered.

She slid closer to me on the bed and kissed me softly.

"Nobody says we have to go all the way the first time we try," she said.

"I thought I was ready, but I guess I'm not." I said.

She took both of my hands and held them in hers. "Do you remember when you thought you liked Josh and you told him 'I'm in it for the long game.'?

"Yeah?"

"Well, that's actually how I feel about you, about us," she said, smiling.

"Aww Riles, you're gonna make me cry," That made me tear up a little.

She moved over next to me against the headboard.

"Partners?" she asked.

"Forever" I said.


	40. Chapter 40

(Author's Note: Sorry for the delay in updating. I have to write a lot of papers for grad school and that makes it hard to get these chapters done. Also if you follow Rowbrina's interactions in social media, you'll recognize that I stole Sabrina's "Blushmachine3000" comment that she said to Rowan. )

Maya's POV

I woke up in Riley's arms. We must've fallen asleep cuddling. Neither of us had bothered to put a shirt on. I loved feeling her skin on my skin. Lying here with her just felt right. It felt safe. She felt like home. I wish we could stay this way. But I knew I had to leave before her parents woke up. I reached over and grabbed my phone from the nightstand to check the time. Her parents will probably be up in 15 minutes.

I noticed a text message from Farkle and opened it:

"I tried texting Riley and got no response. Ask her if she wants to borrow one of my turtlenecks."

I opened the front facing camera on my phone to check my own neck before responding:

"Looks like I could use one myself"

He texted back:

"I thought Riley was the one with the hickey."

I responded by sending him the smirk face emoji.

He responded with the fire emoji and asked:

"What color do you want?"

I replied: "Yellow."

"And Riley?" He asked.

I turned to Riley and kissed her shoulder.

"Honey? Are you awake?"

She groaned something unintelligible.

"Farkle is asking if you need to borrow one of his turtlenecks."

She opened her eyes and looked at my neck. "Wow," she said.

"Yeah, I know, vampire," I said.

"You deserved it." She said.

"I loved every second of it." I replied.

She smiled.

"Are you going to wear one of his turtlenecks?" She asked.

"Yes." I admitted.

"Then we can't both wear one, it would look suspicious." She supposed.

"What are you going to do?" I asked.

"I'll wear that rainbow scarf I got at Pride." She answered.

I texted Farkle that he only needed to bring my turtleneck.

I started to get up but Riley stopped me.

"Honey, I have to go before your dad wakes up," I said.

"I know, Peaches. I just wanted to tell you that you're beautiful, because I don't think I said it last night," she told me.

"You said it, Riles" I assured her.

"Well, I know I said it while your dress was on, but I also wanted to say it while your dress was off too," she smiled flirtatiously.

Her smile makes me melt every time.

I could feel my cheeks blushing.

"BlushMachine3000." I said.

"I live to make you blush," she replied.

She kissed my red cheek. I leaned in and kissed her lips.

"I love you."

"I love you too." I kissed her on the forehead and climbed out of bed.

"Can I borrow your overalls?"

"Overalls?"

"Well, what else am I gonna wear with a turtleneck?" I asked.

"You can borrow whatever you want, Peaches."

I grabbed her overalls and one of her T shirts from her closet and got dressed. I tossed another T shirt at her and she put it on and then went back under the covers.

I heard a tapping on the window. I turned around and saw Farkle. Wow, that was quick. I opened the window and took the yellow turtleneck from him.

"Thanks, Bud." I said. His jaw dropped at the sight of my neck. I lifted his chin back up to close it.

"I can see why you needed this," he gestured toward the turtleneck.

"I can't believe I'm wearing a turtleneck in June. It's going to be way too hot for this." I said.

"I used to wear them all year round," Farkle said.

"Yeah, but you're weird." I said.

He shrugged and looked at Riley, still in bed. "Hey Riley," he said.

"Morning Farkle," she said from under the covers.

"Ok now get outta here, Farkle, I need to change my shirt," I demanded. He ducked back out of the window.

"But wait for me outside." I said. "I'll walk to school with you." He nodded.

I changed my shirt, kissed Riley goodbye, and hopped out of the Bay Window.

I met up with Farkle on the sidewalk and we headed towards school. He was smirking at me.

"What?" I questioned his facial expression.

"Did you, and Riley... you know...?" He awkwardly avoided putting his question into words.

"No, Farkle."

"Oh, okay," he said.

"We started to but I stopped it," I added.

"Oh. Do you want to talk about it?" He asked.

I looked at him undecidedly. Part of me was dying to talk about it with him, and part of me knew I shouldn't drag him into it because he's friends with all of us.

"It's okay if you don't want to," Farkle said.

"I want to but you have to promise me you won't say anything to anyone. It has to stay between you and me," I started.

"I promise, Maya," he said.

"Remember when you and I were dancing and I was watching Riley and Lucas dance and I thought something was going on between them?" I began.

"Yeah..." he said.

"Well, at your house, I saw Lucas make a pass at Riley."

"What do you mean?" He asked.

"He was holding her hand, and he touched her face with his other hand. It looked like he was going to try to kiss her," I explained.

"Whoa." Farkle looked shaken.

"Riley shut it down. She moved his hand away. But she said something that made me wonder if there's a part of her that might have wanted it to happen," I revealed.

"Whoa," he repeated, his eyes widened.

"So that's why you wanted to ask that question on the card to Lucas," Farkle understood.

"Yep," I confirmed.

"But when Riley answered it, she was looking at Haley," Farkle pointed out.

"Yeah, she was," I agreed.

"So she was basically telling Haley she doesn't have to worry about her pursuing Lucas," Farkle deducted.

"Farkle, I know Riley wouldn't pursue him," I said.

"Then what are you worried about?" Farkle asked.

"I'm worried that she might really want to pursue him but won't let herself because she doesn't want to hurt me," I said. "Riley always does what she thinks is right. She always protects her friends," I explained. "When she thought I liked Lucas, she put her own feelings for him aside, for me. She gave him up for me then, and she's giving him up for me now. What if when I told her how I felt about her, she just put her feelings for him aside all over again. What if she never got over him?" I suggested.

"Okay I see what you're saying, Maya, they're her feelings and it's her choice. She chose you, Maya." Farkle said.

"But when she chose me, she didn't know Lucas still liked her," I argued.

"But she had an opportunity last night, and turned him down," he countered.

"Yes, but did she turn him down because she was following her heart or her conscience?" I asked.

"If you really want to know the answer, why don't you ask her?"

Farkle asked.

"I can't. As much I want her to feel whatever she feels for whoever she feels it for, I'm so afraid of losing her," I admitted.

"You want my advice?" Farkle asked.

I stopped walking and turned to look at him.

"Help me," I asked.

"You need to stop doubting her choices. I know you're thinking 'why would she pick me over Mr. Howdy Perfect Freak Face?' but she did. And you deserve her love just as much, probably even more, than he does. I know you don't think you do, but you need to start believing it," Farkle said.

I was really surprised at how well Farkle knew me and knew my own doubts. I guess he has felt those doubts before too. Lucas is the total package and it's enough to make anyone around him feel insecure.

"Maya, trust your girlfriend. Let Riley make her own decisions and trust that she's making them for the right reasons," Farkle concluded.

I nodded.

"You're right, Farkle. Thank you," I thanked him.

"Of course, Maya. I'll always be here for you if you need me," Farkle said.

I gave him a hug.

"I will always need you."


	41. Chapter 41

(Sorry it's been so long since I've updated. I've been dealing with a lot in my personal life. There are a couple of lines written in italics, which is meant to differentiate them as a memory.)

Riley's POV

I was going to walk to school but I was running late so I hurried down the stairs of the subway entrance.

A voice I vaguely recognized said "Hey" to me. I turned around and saw Sheldon and Cisco. The two guys who were bothering Maya and I after our speed date with Farkle. Of course! Of all the people in this city I could run into on a subway platform, I would just have to run into these oafs.

"Nice scarf," the shorter one said. Although he did seem to have a growth spurt since the last time I saw him. He was still shorter than his tall brother, but he stood at my eye level now.

"Thanks." I said out of politeness even though I doubted the sincerity of his comment.

"Hey, why is she wearing a rainbow scarf?"

The shorter one asked the taller one, as he stepped closer to me. What is his deal with getting in my face? It's not like we're squeezing onto the 6 train yet. We're still waiting for it. Haven't you heard of personal space?

I took a step back, but he just took another step toward me. I stepped away from him again, but this time I bumped into the taller one. They were sandwiching me. Where's Farkle with a spider when you actually need a spider?

"Well, perhaps it's possible that she really likes rainbows, or perhaps she's wearing it because she's part of the lgbt community" the taller one supposed.

"Oh, so that's why she wouldn't have pizza with us!" Sheldon realized. "Because she was already on a date with her little blonde dyke," the shorter one said.

"Hey! Don't talk about her like that!" I snapped back at him.

"Well isn't it true?" He asked.

"I don't appreciate that word you used," I said, firmly.

"Oh, which word?" The shorter one ask.

"I believe it was 'dyke', Sheldon, that was most likely the word that offended her," the taller one explained.

"But why is it offensive if it's true? Isn't your little blonde a lesbian? Aren't you her girlfriend? Why else would you be wearing this scarf?" He said as he snatched the scarf and pulled it off my neck.

"Hey! Give it back!" I exclaimed. He immediately saw the hickey on my neck burst into laughter. "Whoa, did blondie do that to you? Cisco, check out her neck!"

Cisco, who always seemed like the more reasonable of the two, said "Sheldon, maybe you should just give her back the scarf."

"Hey, where is your little blonde dyke anyway?" Sheldon asked.

"I told you not to call her that." I reaffirmed.

"What are you gonna do about it?" Sheldon asked.

"Do you think that just because we didn't want to have pizza with you guys, that gives you the right to disrespect me and my girlfriend?" I asked him.

Just then the train arrived, and Sheldon ran into a car still holding my scarf. Cisco followed. I ran into the car after them.

"Give me back my scarf!" I demanded.

I reached out to grab it but he eluded my reach.

"Riley?" I heard Lucas behind me. He was on the train. He stood up and looked at Cisco and Sheldon, and then back at me.

"Are these guys bothering you?"

"He took my scarf and won't give it back," I explained.

He looked at Sheldon, "Give her back the scarf, man." he requested in a serious, but polite tone.

"What if I don't want to?" Sheldon said, defiantly.

Lucas pushed Sheldon up against the subway door and held his left forearm against Sheldon's chest. "I wasn't asking." Lucas said, firmly, abandoning all previous efforts toward politeness.

"Why are you defending her, Cowboy? I heard she left you for a girl," Sheldon scoffed. Cisco snickered.

"Because she's my friend. So you can give it back to her or I can take it from you. But I can't promise I won't break your hand in the process," Lucas threatened.

Whoa. "Lucas," I said.

He looked at me. "I can handle this," he said. Well, sure you can. I just hope you don't revert back into Texas Lucas in the process.

Cisco walked up to Lucas. "There's two of us, and one of you," Cisco said. Lucas, still pinning Sheldon with his left arm, grabbed Cisco with his right arm and flung him against the subway door next to Sheldon. He pinned Cisco against the door with his right arm. "That's why I have two hands," Lucas replied, smirking at Cisco. "I'm as strong as a horse. I don't even work at it. I just am." His eyes shifted to Sheldon. "Give her the scarf back now, or your hand will be in a cast," he demanded.

Oh dear. Please, don't do that, Lucas. Sheldon reached out, handing me back the scarf in reluctant surrender. I took it back from him. "Thank you," I said as I wrapped the scarf back around my neck.

The train had pulled into the next station and the subway doors on the opposite side of the car were open. "I believe this is your stop, Gentlemen." Lucas grabbed Cisco and Sheldon by their shirts and pulled them across the car. He shoved them out onto the Astor Place platform.

They tried to get back on the train, but the conductor had already said "Stand clear" as the doors closed in their faces. Sheldon banged on the door, angrily.

"This isn't over, Cowboy! You better watch your backs!" He yelled out as the train started to roll away.

Lucas turned to me. His tough exterior quickly fell as his expression changed to one of concern. "Are you okay?" He asked me. I nodded.

"Who are those guys? How do you know them?" He asked.

I recounted when Maya and I first met Cisco and Sheldon and how Farkle scared them off with a spider. Lucas laughed.

"So Sheldon was hassling you to have pizza with him again?" Lucas asked.

"He seems to have a problem with the fact that I'd rather date a girl than go out with him," I answered.

I watched Lucas as he was shaking his head at Sheldon's behavior, wondering if he would ever realize that he had acted in a similar way himself at Farkle's house.

"Stop," I said.

"Stop what?" Lucas asked, innocently.

"Stop shaking your head." I answered.

"What he did was really messed up-"

I cut him off mid sentence. "What you did is just as messed up."

"What I did?" He asked, confused. "I was helping you."

"You spent half of prom night talking to me with romantic intentions," I accused.

He seemed to grow even more confused.

"Are you really comparing that to those guys harassing you?" He asked, incredulously.

The train pulled into Union Square as he asked his question. I exited onto the platform and kept walking briskly up the stairs, rather than answer him. He hurried up the staircase, beating me to the top, and faced me.

"Riley, come on," he persisted.

I darted around him and swiftly went through the turnstile. He ran after me, hopping over the turnstile. He cut me off in front of a metrocard vending machine. He leaned one arm against the vending machine, blocking me in. I was surrounded on all sides, by him, by his arm, by the adjacent wall and by the vending machine at my back.

"Riley, you don't really think I'm anything like those guys, do you?" he asked.

I couldn't help but laugh at the irony of the situation.

"You are. This is exactly how they cornered me at Bleecker Street, except now Cisco is a metrocard vending machine and Sheldon is you," I explained.

Lucas suddenly became aware of his imposing stance and quickly dropped his arm.

"The question on the card that Maya wanted to ask you, answer it," I demanded.

His eyes widened in astonishment.

"Would you ever romantically pursue Vanessa?" I asked.

"No, of course not," he answered quickly.

I nodded. "Out of respect for Zay?" I supposed.

He quickly agreed, "Exactly!"

"Why doesn't Maya deserve the same respect, Lucas?" I let the question sink in for a moment, and then walked away.

I headed out of the train station, and into school. Lucas followed behind and caught up to me while I was getting a book out of my locker.

"It's different," he argued.

"How?" I questioned.

He looked into my eyes with his own kind, blue eyes. Those eyes always had a way of drawing me in and making me listen.

"You're not Vanessa." He stated emphatically, as though it needed to be made a point even though it was obvious.

"You're Riley. And I'm Lucas."

An involuntary smile betrayed my will as his words instantly resurfaced the memory of when I first fell into his lap on the subway.

 _"I'm Lucas," a younger version of him said with a smile._

 _"I love it," I gushed._

"We have chemistry, Riley," he said smiling back at me.

I'm sure my cheeks were blushing, and my dimples were creased, replicating the expression my younger self had in the memory. I'm sure that was reinforcing whatever theory Lucas had about us. But I'm not the same girl who fell into his lap on the subway. I've evolved. We all have. People change people.

"No, Lucas, we don't have chemistry," I said. "What we have, is history." I closed my locker, and walked into my father's classroom.


	42. Chapter 42

(I know this is kind of short but I wanted to post what I have so far because I haven't updated in a long time. Sorry it's taking me so long.)

Maya's POV

Riley walked into Mr. Matthews' class and Lucas was right behind her. Huh. Did they walk to school together? I don't like this. I looked back at Haley and we exchanged similar uneasy glances.

Riley sat down and smiled at me.

"Hi Peaches."

"Hey Riles. So you and Ranger Rick...?" I trailed off.

"We ran into each other on the subway," she replied. "Oh." I nodded.

Lucas spoke up "It's a good thing we did."

I turned around to face Lucas. "What do you mean?" I asked him.

He looked at Riley. "Do you want to tell her?" He asked Riley.

I looked at Riley. "Did something happen on the subway?" I asked her.

Riley's POV

Ugh. I don't know. I mean I want to tell her but, Sheldon called her a bad name, one that I'd rather not repeat.

"Riles?" She persisted. Okay, here goes.

"You remember those guys, Sheldon and Cisco?" I began.

She furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. "Who?" She asked

Farkle leaned forward. "You mean those two guys I scared off with my spider?" He asked. I nodded. Then Maya nodded as well. "Oh yeah, that was awesome," she giggled.

"They were..." I struggled to find the words.

"...bothering you?" Maya guessed.

"Yes." I responded.

Maya waited for me to continue. I don't even know where to start.

She looked at Lucas for more of the story.

He said "They took her scarf and wouldn't give it back, so I stepped in."

Her eyes widened. "You mean they just snatched it from your neck?" She asked, in an unpleasantly surprised tone.

I nodded.

"They made fun of my hickey and asked if you did that to me. They called you a bad name, Maya," I added.

"I'm sorry they did that to you, Pumpkin," she sighed. "What'd they call me?" she asked.

"Don't make me say it." I cringed.

"Just tell me, honey," she prodded.

I wrote the word "dyke" on my notebook and showed it to her. She squinted at it.

"Oh. What does that mean?" She asked.

I started to try to define it, but realized I didn't really know the answer myself.

"I'm not really sure how to explain it," I answered, "I've just only ever heard it used negatively."

Farkle leaned forward, peeking over my shoulder to read the word.

"It originated as a term to describe masculine women, and became used as a derogatory term for lesbians," he explained.

She looked at Farkle, wide-eyed and confused.

"Der-og-at-ory?" She sounded it out in a way that clearly indicated she wasn't familiar with it.

"Yeah, you know like insulting, demeaning, degrading or disrespectful," he said.

She nodded "Oh," she understood.

"I defended you," I said "well I tried to anyway."

"Do you think I'm masculine?" She asked me, as though she were pondering the validity of Sheldon's remark.

Ummm.

After some brief consideration, I shook my head. "No, Peaches. Not really."

Sure she has a tough exterior and that could come of as masculine, but I know she only LOOKS like she could kill you.

I know she's actually a cinnamon roll.

Maya's POV

People calling me names is nothing new. I shrugged it off.

"Well people call me names sometimes, Riley. I can just add this one to the list."

"What else is on the list?" Farkle asked.

"Short stack of pancakes," I said, glaring at Huckleberry.

"It was one name. You've got a whole list of names for me," he argued.

"Oh and there was that time your dad called me a waif in front of the whole class," I said to Riley.

"What's a waif?" Riley asked.

"A child that has been abandoned," Farkle explained, softly.

Wait, what?

"THAT'S what it means?!" I exclaimed. OH NO he didn't!

"When did he call you that?" Riley asked, confused.

Oh no, he really didn't.

"Oops! Nevermind. That doesn't happen until next year," I said.

"He won"t even still be our teacher next year," Riley said.

I laughed "You're cute."

"Of course he'll still be our teacher next year, and every year," Farkle

"Why do you say that?" Lucas asked him.

"Because, after doing hours of thorough research and analysis, I have determined that Mr. Matthews is our Feeny," Farkle concluded.

"FEEE - NAY!" Riley called out with a smile. I couldn't help but join in the Feeny call.

"FEH - HEH - HEH - HEE- NAYY!" I chimed in.

Mr. Matthews walked into the classroom on the tail end of that and gave me a strange look before turning around to write on the board.

I looked over at Riley and noticed her smile had faded. She must still be upset about those jerks hassling her.

"Hey Riles," she looked up at me. "I'm sorry I wasn't there."

"Don't worry about it-" she started.

"No, I am worried about it. I really wish I had been there. I would never let anyone mess with you," I assured her.

She looked at me as if she knew better. As if she knew I couldn't possibly protect her from every injustice we would ever face together.

"Maya, I don't think there's anything you can do about it," she shrugged.

I hate seeing her look so defeated. Her eyes usually sparkle with glimmers of hoping for the best in people, but now they look dull and devoid of their usual light.

"I realized today," she began, "that there are some people in this world,"

she paused and glanced in Lucas's direction, but he wasn't facing us because he was talking to Haley,

"mainly guys," she turned back to me and continued,

"who will never respect our relationship, at least not the way they would give respect to a straight couple," she finished.

I wish I could prove her wrong. I wish I could tell her that what happened today would never happen again. I never want her to feel like she isn't worthy of respect. I want to rip those jerks apart for making her feel this way. But I can't realistically do any of those things. All I can do is love her, and hope that's enough.

"Hey," I took reached over and squeezed her hand.

"I love you," I told her.

This was enough to bring back her smile. Hi dimples. The sadness in her eyes was eclipsed by love as she looked at me and squeezed my hand back.

"I love you too, Peaches."

Our moment was interrupted by a gasp from Farkle.

"What's so shocking, genius?" I asked him. He pointed at the words on the board.

"It's finally happening!" He exclaimed.

Riley and I looked at the words Mr. Matthews wrote on the board. There it is.

"Belgium 1831".


	43. Chapter 43

(Author's Note: Today is this story's birthday! I can't believe that one year ago, today I began publishing it on . I also can't believe that I have reached my word count goal! I started writing this to see if I was capable of writing something equivalent to the length of a young adult fiction novel, which is 50,000 words, and this chapter puts me over that. That means that all of you who have read it all the way through to this chapter have basically read an entire young adult fiction novel about Riley and Maya. Thank you all so much for reading and leaving feedback and helping me grow as a writer. It's been an amazing journey so far. I never thought my words would be read by thousands of people. It means so much to me. Thank you 3 )

Riley's POV

"Belgium 1831," my father began.

"Really?" I asked

"Yeah. Today is the today," he said.

"Wait!" Farkle demanded. He looked at me and then at Maya. "Is anything about to happen to either of you?" He asked skeptically. Maya and I looked at each other and then looked back at Farkle, shaking our heads.

"Farkle-" said my Dad.

"Don't play with my emotions, Hambone!" Farkle exclaimed.

My dad looked offended by the accusation "Me? I would never!" He said.

Farkle took a deep breath. My father continued with his lesson.

Maya's POV

I'm sure this lesson is important, but I couldn't get my mind off of Riley. I know that she cares about how other people think of her. I know the realization that people will think less of our relationship must be hurting her.

"Before 1831, what is now Belgium, used to be the southern provinces of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands. The people of those southern provinces launched a revolution and seceded from the kingdom. Belgium declared it's independence."

"Just like we did," Farkle said.

I glanced back at Lucas. He was looking at Riley. He really doesn't respect that Riley isn't his to look at that way anymore. I don't know why I'm surprised. He wasn't the most cooperative when he and I broke up either. Even though I told him we were over, he still tried to kiss me at the talent show. He didn't actually give up until I told him I was a lesbian. But Riley isn't. Her feelings for him were actually real. As real as whatever he feels for her. He's not going to give up on Riley, is he? Even though Haley is totally into him.

"Just like you will," Mr. Matthews replied to Farkle.

I can't help but wonder if Riley is really happy in this relationship, or if she would be happier with Lucas. Honestly, I hate to say it, but what bisexual girl would actually choose a girlfriend if she could be just as happy with a boyfriend? Her life would be so much easier with him.

"Like we will? I was referring to the American Revolution in 1776," Farkle said, confused.

"And I was referring to you leaving this place," Mr. Matthews explained.

"So how does half a kingdom decide to leave? Is it tougher to leave something you love? Or stay when you could be missing an opportunity?" He asked.

Ugh. This lesson. You're killin' me, Matthews.

"Well, that depends," Haley answered.

"On what?" Mr. Matthews followed up.

"You have to weigh your options," Haley said. "See how what you would be leaving behind measures up to what you would be leaving undiscovered."

Ugh. You're killin' me, Haley.

"But how can you determine the weight of something undiscovered? It's just speculation." Farkle reasoned.

"To be fair," Lucas said. "I think it's important to know what's waiting for you." He looked at Riley. "It could be something better."

UGH! You're killin' me Huckleberry!

Riley must have been intrigued by his words. She was looking back at him now.

"It could be something that was meant for you to discover all along," he continued.

Okay. Belgium 1831 is us. I looked past Lucas, at Haley. I watched Haley watching Lucas look at Riley. I then watched Riley looking at Lucas and could see Haley watching me out of the corner of my eye. I suddenly started to feel the United Kingdom of the Netherlands unraveling.

"What happened after Belgium left?" Riley asked.

Belgium must have felt the unraveling too.

I answered her question.

"The United Kingdom of the Netherlands completely fell apart."

Just like I will when she leaves me. It's inevitable isn't it? We're going to meet so many people in our lives. And I have to compete with both boys and girls who will try to steal her heart from me. Am I naive to think this relationship can last when it started so young? I know she believes in it, because she is the product of Cory and Topanga. But is that realistic?

"Maya, you researched something?" Mr. Matthews asked in surprise.

"I didn't need to. I am the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, and I know what will happen to me when my other half breaks free," I said.

Riley looked at me as though I had just said something absurd.

Mr. Matthews said, "King William didn't accept it at first. He tried to get Belgium back, but he failed. It took him 8 years to accept it and recognize Belgium as independent."

I nodded. "Sounds about right." I mumbled to myself. "I'd fight for Belgium too. And I'll probably be in just as much denial when she leaves."

Riley slammed her hand down on her desk and shook her head vehemently.

"Ok, enough! Maya, you're not the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, and I'm not Belgium 1831," she declared.

"Yes, you are." Farkle disagreed with Riley.

"No, I'm not." Riley reaffirmed.

"Sure you are, we all are." Farkle stated, confidently.

"You are all Belgium 1831. You're all graduating. This is the last day of classes. This is the last lesson for a reason," Mr. Matthews said.

"What if we're not ready for this?" Riley asked with a worried expression on her face.

"You are," her father assured her. "Each one of you is now a free sovereign nation, ready to meet the world on your own terms. It's time for you to meet the world outside the walls of John Quincy Adams. So, go and meet the world, Belgium."

Okay. We need to talk.

"Bay window?" I asked Riley.

She nodded.

"Bay window, after school," she agreed.


	44. Chapter 44

Riley's POV

After class, I caught up with Farkle at his locker. I feel like he's the only person who can help me right now. I took his arm and lead him over to the friendship bench in the hallway and sat him down.

"Riley, what's going on?" Farkle asked.

"How do you know if you and Smackle will make it through high school together?" I asked.

"Well, I don't KNOW, but I have hope that we will, because when she smiles at me, I get a feeling that I can only describe as Boilalaloo!" He said, smiling from ear to ear.

"Does she feel the same way?" I asked him.

"It's hard to say really, because of her Aspberger's and because we're both scientists, feelings are not our forte. It's going to take us a long time to figure out our feelings and be comfortable enough to express them physically. We'll probably still be on first base while you're on your honeymoon," he explained.

"So even though you know that being with Smackle is going to be hard, harder than if you dated someone else probably, you still feel like it's worth it, right?" I asked him.

"I do. She's the only girl I've ever met who's even smarter than me. Being with her has made me better. She has brought me to a whole new level that I didn't even know I was intellectually capable of." He said.

Hearing him talk about Smackle that way made me realize that Maya had done the same thing for me, emotionally. Being with Maya made me feel things I didn't even know I was capable of feeling for a girl, or for anyone really. I have such a better understanding now of who I am, and she's the reason for that. But I still have more to sort out.

"You used to love both me and Maya right?" I asked.

"I still love you both," he replied.

"I know, but I'm not talking about platonically," I said. "You used to love us both and you could never choose between us."

"The smartest decision I ever made was not choosing between my two best friends," Farkle said.

"What if you did, Farkle? What if you had to choose? How would you make your decision?" I asked him. A sudden realization swept over his face.

"Oh my gosh. This is about Maya and Lucas isn't it?" he asked. He looked devastated.

"Maya knows." He said.

"What does Maya know?" I asked.

"She knows you still like Lucas." Farkle said.

"How can she know that? I haven't even figured that out for myself yet." I said.

"Well, she suspects it, and it's killing her Riley." Farkle said, sadly.

Oh no. Maya must've confided in Farkle, telling him about her doubts, and now I'm here putting him in the middle. That must be why she wants to meet at the bay window later. She must want to talk about Lucas.

"I don't want to hurt anyone," I said.

"Oh, someone's getting hurt. But if we're not honest with each other, then everyone gets hurt. You, Maya, Lucas, Haley-"

"I know. But I don't know what to do, Farkle." I said, helplessly.

"You've always liked Lucas, and he always liked you," Farkle began. "But you and Maya have a really deep and special bond," he noted. "It runs so deep, you dropped your feelings for Lucas when you thought Maya liked him and you stepped back so they could explore their feelings for each other."

"I was trying to do what was best for everyone concerned," I explained.

"Why?" He questioned.

"Because I wanted Maya to be happy," I answered. I always want Maya to be happy, no matter what happens between us.

"You know, many psychology researchers believe that prioritizing someone else's happiness before your own indicates that you love that person," Farkle explained.

"I do, Farkle. I love Maya." I said with clarity.

"So it's Maya then?" Farkle asked.

"It's Maya. It's always been Maya, from day one. The first person I wanted in my world was her."


	45. Chapter 45

Maya's POV

I walked through Greenwich Village towards Riley's house. I figured walking would help me clear my head. I walked past a bunch of couples on my way, some of them were in the middle of PDA. Guys and girls with their arms wrapped around each other, holding each other close on a park bench, kissing each other in public. It's so easy for them.

Then I noticed there was one gay couple. Two boys who looked like they were in college. I didn't realize they were together at first. They were being much more discreet than the other couples I had seen. But one guy reached for the other guy's hand as they were walking, and then I saw the way they looked at each other. I'd recognize it anywhere. It's the way Riley looks at me. I smiled at them, and they smiled and nodded back. Aww! Two guys holding hands in public is the cutest and probably the rarest thing to see.

We were all walking in the same direction for a couple of blocks. Everything was fine until an older man walking past us gave them a dirty look. The boys let go of each other's hands and seemed to be more cautious of their surroundings. The older man kept walking the other way and looked back at them a few times. He muttered something under his breath. The only words I could make out were "disgusting" and "faggots".

I got the impression the older man was a tourist or someone from out of town. This is the most historically gay neighborhood in one of the most liberal cities in the country. Hate shouldn't happen here. But I guess it can happen anywhere, even here. I don't know why I let myself believe that any place could really be safe from that.

I rounded the corner of Riley's block. "Well, it was beautiful while it lasted."

Riley's POV

I waited for Maya in the bay window. I'm nervous about what she'll say. I know that she's worried about us, and Lucas. I just hope she's not giving up on me.

Just then I heard her footsteps approaching and my heart beat a little bit faster. Maya climbed into the bay window and sat down next to me.

Her eyes were more grey than blue. Uh oh. That's not a good sign.

"Hey Peaches," I leaned in for a kiss. Her lips met mine and her kiss felt just as impassioned as it always does. Maybe I'm worrying for nothing.

"We need to talk, Riles," she said.

"Okay," I said. Now I'm worried again. "What's on your mind?"

Maya's POV

I can't keep her safe the way he can. She doesn't deserve to be disrespected just for being with me. She deserves the chance to explore whatever she feels for whoever she feels it for. I know this is the right thing to do, even though it feels…well I'm just going to try to ignore how it feels.

"I don't know how to say this," I started.

"Then don't." Riley said. I looked into those beautiful brown eyes of hers and they looked scared.

"Don't say it, Maya." Riley grabbed my hand.

"I was thinking"- I began

"Maya-" She interrupted

"-that if you wanted to-" I continued.

"-I DON'T want to, Maya-" she affirmed.

"that it would be okay with me if-"

"Don't you dare finish that sentence, Maya Penelope Hart."

Oooh. She used my full name. She's really scared of what I'm going to say.

"if-" I tried to finish it but she silenced me with

"Ring Power!"

Okay I guess, I'll have to start a new sentence.

Riley's POV

Hah! Ring Power wins. There's no way I'm letting her give up on us that easily.

"Why don't we just take a break?" Maya said. I can't believe what I'm hearing. I shook my head.

"No!" I refused. "Why would you think I would want that?" I asked.

Maya got up from the window and started pacing. I got up too. She stopped pacing when there was a significant amount of space between us and turned to look at me.

"Riley, I saw you and Lucas in the powder room at Farkle's house," she said.

"You did?" Whoa, I'm surprised she hasn't killed Lucas already. I didn't think she was aware of his advances.

"I think he wanted to try to kiss you," she looked away as she said that. "At least that's what it looked like from where I was standing," Maya said.

"You saw that?" I asked. She nodded. Suddenly, it made sense why she wanted to ask Lucas that question during the relationships game.

"Maya, is that why were you were drinking?" I asked, suddenly feeling slightly responsible.

Maya shrugged. "I don't know, maybe." I walked over to her and held her hands in mine.

"There is nothing going on with me and Lucas, I swear," I told her.

She looked me in the eye and asked "But do you want there to be?" The question completely took me by surprise.

"No, Maya. I don't. I've rejected all of his attempts." I can't believe she'd ask that.

"I'm not just talking about right now. We're going to high school. We need to figure out who we want to be in high school," she said as she returned to the bay window and sat down. I sat down next to her again.

"I want to be myself. I want to be exactly who I am and be with the girl I love," I smiled at her. She didn't seem any more assured by it.

"Riles, I just don't get it," she said.

"What?" I gestured for her to go on.

She continued, "Why would you choose me? You could be with a great guy and be just as happy with him. He can keep you safe in ways that I can't. Nobody is going to bully you just for being with him-" hold it right there.

"Missy Bradford" I interrupted.

She nodded. "Okay, maybe except for her.."

"Maya," I turned her chin to look at me. "It's high school, and we're freshman. We're all going to get massacred anyway."

She nodded quietly.

"Maya, high school is just the next place. Your safe place is us. Your safe place is me." I reassured her.

She smiled, finally, and offered me her hand. "Then I'm yours," she said.

I took her hand in mine. "From the day we met," I said, as we smiled at each other.

She planted a kiss on my hand. Her eyes started to become blue again.

"Maya, I used to sit here in this bay window by myself, hoping that someone would come in and sit with me. And then one day, you climbed through my window. And you stayed. Look, Maya. You're still here, sitting with me. Just like I hoped for. Please, don't leave me now," I pleaded.

"I could never," she answered, still smiling.

"So no break?" I asked her. She shook her head.

"No break." she agreed.

"Good, because how I feel about you hasn't changed. No overzealous ex-boyfriend, no dance with a prom king, no bullies on the subway can change that. I'm still in love with you, Maya," I professed my feelings to her with as much sincerity as I could convey.

"And I'm always in love with you, Riles," she replied. "Promise me we'll always be together," she said.

"We will always be together," I promised. She leaned in and sealed our promise with a kiss.

"Thunder," I said.

"Lightning," she said.

"Forever".

(Author's Note: This is the end of this part of the story. Thank you all all so much for reading and for your feedback! I will be writing a continuation of them in high school next. I will be posting one more chapter in this story and that will be the preview of the first chapter of the continuation, so that way everyone following this story can easily find the continuation when it's published. It won't be ready right way though, so please be patient. I have a lot of ideas for it that I'm still trying to organize into a narrative with structure. Thanks again for reading and supporting this story. It means a lot to me.)


	46. Chapter 46

(Author's Note: This is the preview chapter to the continuation. It's called Girl Meets Perspective, and I will post the following chapters to that title. It's not taking place in high school, but at the end of their senior year in college. It will be still be narrated by both Maya and Riley in alternating POV and they will reveal what happened in high school and college in flashbacks. I'm sorry this took so long. I have a lot going on right now so I won't be able to update as frequently.)

MAYA

I can hear something pounding, but I can't tell if it's external or just my own head. I had been in a deep sleep until this pounding disturbed me. Reluctantly, I open my eyes. I can't tell what time of day it is because I keep the window shades closed these days. I don't watch the light move during the day anymore. I can't. If I do, then eventually I'll notice that it's 5:30. And I'll remember that at 5:30 she turns gold. Except I'm not the one who gets to watch her turn gold everyday anymore. And that's a hard reality to face every single day at 5:30. I'd rather just not notice what time of day it is and hope that 5:30 comes and goes quietly.

There's that pounding again. I realize now that it's not just my head. It's someone knocking on the door. I sit up. Whoa. I did that a little too fast. Now the pounding in my head is competing with the knocking on the door. Ugh. So many sounds. Why? I take a deep breath to steady my spinning, pounding head.

"Maya, are you in there?" a familiar voice calls out. Wait. Am I hearing right? Is that Farkle?

He keeps knocking.

"Yeah, I'm coming," I call out. I slowly stand up and stumble over clothes and empty bottles to get to the door.

"Farkle?" I say as I open the door in disbelief. He looked so mature, wearing a stylish business suit, a little more casual than formal though.

"Hey," he said. He seemed a bit disturbed as he looked at me and entered my apartment. He looked at the empty bottles lying around and my disheveled appearance.

"Have you been drinking Maya? It's only 11:00 A.M." he asked.

"Actually, no, not yet, because I was sleeping, but this is New York, where the bars open at 8, so I'm actually 3 drinks behind," I said jokingly, but Farkle didn't seem to get that it was a joke.

"Relax, I'm kidding," I explained.

"Maya, do you even go to class anymore?" he asked, concerned.

"It's Saturday," I answered.

"It's Tuesday!" he exclaimed.

"It's TUESDAY?! Wait, then why are you here? Shouldn't you be at Princeton?" I asked, confused.

"Maya, I graduated a semester early remember? Because of all the AP classes I took in high school," he tried to remind me. I honestly can't even remember that. The last few months have been kind of a blur.

"Oh. Um. Belated Congratulations!" I said, giving him a hug.

"You already congratulated me in January," he said. What the hell? Why can't I remember? How long ago was that?

"It's still April right?" I asked. This is embarrassing.

"It's May. It's almost June," he answered.

I frantically opened the calendar app in my phone and - phew- my class meets next week. "Ok, my class doesn't meet until next week. We only meet 3 times over the semester, and my other class has an online option, so I usually watch the lectures at home," I answered his question.

"Yeah, I know. That class that meets three times a semester is your internship class. You know the internship at the Minkus Family Foundation that you mysteriously stopped showing up to? Why do you think I'm here, Maya?" he asked.

"I know, Farkle. I'm sorry, I'll do better." I replied.

"My mother wanted to fire you, but I begged her to give you another chance," he said. "I told her that someone like you needs to feel supported, not discarded."

Someone like me? Really Farkle? Why don't you just say it?

Alcoholic.

That's who I am now. But if he can't even say it, how am I supposed to say it? How am I supposed to show up at an AA meeting and say to everyone "Hi, I'm Maya, and I'm an alcoholic…"

"Well, thanks for talking to her for me," I said graciously.

"The foundation is sponsoring an art exhibit at the Met - Breuer. It's going to showcase contemporary local artists and young emerging artists. She wants you to help organize it and show some pieces of your work," Farkle explained.

"She wants me to show my work? At the Met?" I asked incredulously.

"Well, it's the Met - Breuer." Farkle said. I know exactly what he means. It's the building that used to be the Whitney Museum before the Whitney moved downtown. The Met bought it and now it's the Met - Breuer, where they showcase modern and contemporary exhibits.

"Wow". I didn't know what else to say. I never thought I'd get to show my art in a real museum.

"It's a great opportunity, and I want to see you succeed, so what can I do to help?" he asked as he started to gather the empty bottles off the floor and put them in the recycling bin.

"You already have. You saved my internship grade. Just tell your mom I'll see her tomorrow," I promised.

He walked back over to me and took me by the hand. "Maya, if you want to, there's a meeting tonight." He pulled up the community health center's Facebook page on his phone and showed me a post about an Alcoholic's Anonymous type meeting tonight. "I'll go with you," he offered.

"I don't think you're allowed to, Farkle."

"Well, maybe not inside but I can take you and pick you up. Maybe we can get smoothies after."

He's sweet. He's all I have left these days. And I owe him for helping me keep my internship. I don't want to let him down but…

"I'm not ready for this." I tell him, honestly. I mean, isn't this a meeting for people who are getting sober? I'm not ready to be sober. I hate that I'm sober right now. I'll probably make a drink as soon as Farkle leaves.

"Well, when you're ready, I'll go with you." He's not persisting at least. "I have to get back to the office, but I'll see you there tomorrow."

"At the Foundation office? Since when do you work there?" I mean I guess I wouldn't know since I pretty much just stopped going to work.

"Since working at Minkus International was draining my soul," he said. I nodded.

He hugged me goodbye.

"I'll see you tomorrow," I said as I shut the door behind him.

Farkle gave up his lunch break to save my sorry ass. I wonder if sponsoring the art exhibit was his idea. I have to admit, it's pretty genius. What better way to get an artist to regain interest in getting out of bed then by giving her an art show to organize. He wanted to make me feel like I had a purpose, and that my work had an audience waiting for it.

It had to be his pitch. His mom just would've fired me, and she had every right to. I basically abandoned my position. I never meant to let her down. It's just, these past few months have been really hard. Sometimes the urge to call Riley is unbearable, but I never give in. I haven't seen or spoken to Shawn in awhile either. Seeing me like this probably wouldn't be good for him right now.

I'm just trying to get through my last semester at Cooper Union, and then after that, I have no idea what I'll be doing. I stopped seeing the point in making plans. They never work out they way you want them to. I twist open the bottle of Jameson on the counter and pour a double. I can never drink the first one straight so I cut it with sparkling water.

This isn't the life I was expecting. I wonder how the hell I got here like 50 times a day. It's a long story, and when I don't have a drink in my hand, it's easy for me to get caught up in remembering it. So I drink to quiet the noise in my head, to numb the harsh memories, but I let myself linger on the good ones.

Like on Riley and I, freshman year of high school…


End file.
